causal-profs22

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Jessicariccio

I could use some help getting started. I am researching how certain medications regarding mental health can be difficult to obtain. I think cause and effect is relative in the sense that lower income families cannot afford the medicine and therefore are more likely to suffer from mental illness.

Posted in Causal Argument, Portfolio Profs22, profs22 | 1 Comment

MY HYPOTHESIS

Posted on October 20, 2020 by cucumberlemonadee

Artists with mental illness.

How mental illness affected artist’s work.

How mental illnesses made artists work more abstract.

Mental illnesses made artists go through difficult experiences which in turn made their art more abstract.

Mental illnesses has been causing artists work to become more abstract.

Posted in 123 Uncheck this Box | Tagged | Leave a comment

Open Strong Tcarter101 rewrite

Posted on October 20, 2020 by tcarter101

The pandemic has ruined the college experience for students such as myself.  We have experienced a new challenge  in which we have to adapt to our new circumstances. This has made the learning experience of college much more difficult than before.  This combined with  the social distancing restrictions has also made the social  learning aspect of college much more difficult than before. Since we are more isolated than ever before we do not have the opportunity to have those late nights of bonding with our peers and forming friendships that last a lifetime. As much as we need to focus on our academics we also need to have the much needed social interaction with each other. 

These experiences allow you to  grow as a human being and further you into adulthood. It is also what people reflect back on their days at college. These fond memories gives us insight for both our future career life and personal life as well. In many ways the experience of interacting and connecting with your peers helps you learn much better than being completely on your own. it is convenient to go to school from home however I would argue that the connections that you form meet people on the campus has a very good value. 

Posted in Open Strong Take Home | 1 Comment

Open Strong – bluntwriting88

Posted on October 19, 2020 by bluntwriting88

1.            When storms hit many regions in America and the power goes out, maybe for many days at a time, utility companies never respond adequately or fast enough especially as there is no backup for our interdependent electrical system at all. America currently is all for depletable energy sources rather than renewables like solar, for which subsidies expire in the near future, so that viability is tossed, and Americans are left to deal with faulty electrical grids. If the electrical grid does go out for instance, due to a power outage or worse, a domestic or foreign threat, there is nothing in place for defense against sustained civilian power loss, or anything backing up, protecting, or securing American society which has virtually been embedded into attack and damage susceptible crude electromagnetic devices. A simple bacterium with hardly any lines of defense will be readily invaded and obliterated by viruses or new evolved enemy bacteria. In this sense, America is the model of defenselessness and outdatedness, like a simple germ which can be eliminated and rendered useless whenever.

2.            America, for all its economic and military glory, is by far the most technologically underdeveloped and stunted developed nation in our modern world. For decades at a time America cannot provide clean drinking water to far too many municipalities I.E. Flint Michigan. The Birthplace of the iPhone and Microsoft does not have sustainable backup power systems, leaving the population at the mercy of natural decays, disaster, and their local utility provider – nor does America possess enough hospital beds in the densest populated or ventilators during a respiratory pandemic.  The absolute lack of technological coordination and sophistication leaves America as laughingstock for nations across the globe which have already resolved the engineering trifles plaguing much of American technological infrastructures.

Posted in bluntwriting, Open Strong Take Home | 1 Comment

Open Strong – Mhmokaysure

Posted on October 19, 2020 by kowiklinski

Let’s be honest, taking the driver’s test in New Jersey is incredibly easy, requiring very little to none skill in order to receive one’s license. The requirements are substandard even by the already low ranking difficulty of driver’s tests in the United States, making it almost impossible to fail. These kinds of standards do not work with much less dangerous tasks, let alone allowing someone to operate the most dangerous form of transportation. Unfortunately because of this, youth drivers are thrown into situations they are unfamiliar with, putting themselves and others at risk. Something needs to be done, the driver’s test requirements in New Jersey and the entire United States need to be raised to that of international standards to lessen the risk that youth drivers pose on the road.

An inexperienced person seldom receives responsibility in something they just began, yet for some reason young drivers are allowed to share the roads with those who have many years of experience. Instead of being mature enough to learn proper driving techniques, and acquire the skills necessary, oftentimes young drivers choose to show off or test their limits in something they do not fully comprehend. While it is necessary for people to be able to drive, instead of young drivers sharing the roads with those who are experienced, young drivers should be allowed to only drive on separate roads, putting only themselves at risk, and not the general population.

Posted in mhmokaysure, Open Strong Take Home | 1 Comment

Visual Rhetoric – Mhmokaysure

Posted on October 19, 2020 by kowiklinski

0:00 – 0:03

The video begins with the scene taking place in a dark hallway of a seemingly normal house. The light in the hallway is turned off, making it so that only the silhouette of a person is seen. By looking at the height of the silhouette compared to the ceiling and door frames, we can see that it appears to be a young boy with curly hair atop his head, with a shorter cut on the sides, typical with today’s more fashionable hair cuts. The camera follows the boy, who appears to emphasize every step swaying from side to side as he walks, approaching an intersection in the hallway with a room in front of him and on the right side. There is light coming from whatever room is on the right. The room ahead of him however contains a window near the ceiling, letting in a little light from the outside. The window however now makes it appear as if the boy is in the basement, with the window being near the ceiling. The lack of sunlight coming through the window sets a gloomy tone, as if it was either turning dark, or it was a cloudy day. As the boy approaches the intersection in the hallway, he ominously turns his head towards the left, as if turning to look behind him, however the scene abruptly changes. The ominously slow pace of this scene, along with the darkness and silhouette applies 

0:03 – 0:04

The abrupt cut switches to the camera aiming down at a young girl laying down on the hardwood floor, atop what appears to be a green patterned rug. She appears to be wearing pajama pants and a winter themed sweater. As the camera pans from left to right, she kicks one foot carelessly on the ground, appearing to be very comfortably occupied with something. As the camera pans however, it becomes visible that there is a height difference between what she is laying on, and the wood floor, leaving one to believe it is a bed instead, and the green pattern is instead a quilt.

0:054 – 0:08

As the scene switches, we now see a third child standing atop a chair on their tippy toes rummaging through a wardrobe. Struggling to reach the top shelf, the child appears to be a girl due to the pink socks they are wearing. The room is clearly not her own, as the floor is covered by an ornate rug, along with multiple plants being in the room. Once again, the scene appears to be out of the ordinary, as there is no one else present, with the girl appearing to be looking through something she shouldn’t be, having pulled up a chair that does not fit the decoration of the room to reach the top of the wardrobe.

0:08 – 0:10

The scene then switches to the second character we saw, the young girl in the pajamas and winter sweater. She jumps down from the bed to reveal that there is another young child with her, a boy who appears to be a similar age, wearing a sweater and a hat confirming that the scene is taking place during the cold months of the year. In the scene he is kneeling on the ground looking up at the girl who jumped down from the bed. His body appears relaxed as he is slightly slouching, appearing to be possibly bored. 

0:10 – 0:12

Next we see the original boy, who appears to have reached the far room as it is now dark. It appears that he is in fact in a basement, as the room is filled with shelves containing packed away boxes with random items. He is also on a chair reaching for something on a taller shelf, and has placed a flashlight behind him to help see. It once again appears to be a young child looking through something they should not be looking for, due to the lack of presence of an adult, or anyone else in the vicinity. The scene does not however show what is on the top shelf that he is reaching for, instead the frame covers mostly what is behind him, as if focusing on the fact that the room is cluttered, along with the flashlight placed behind him.

0:12 – 0:15

The scene abruptly cuts to the last girl we saw, the one who was standing on top of a chair rummaging through a wardrobe. As she is reaching around, the contents of the top shelf fall, while she takes a quick step back on the chair to avoid it from hitting her. As the items fall, we see an assortment of books, old clothing and board games. The items however fall in such a way that they reveal that a pistol has also fallen from the top shelf. Being in the center of the fallen items, it is clearly intentional, confirming that the child had been looking through somewhere she was not supposed to. The gun is clearly the center of attention in this scene, being positioned in such a way that the barrel faces the camera, once again reaching the emotion of the viewer, a clear appeal to the pathos of the scene.

0:15-0:16

This scene is brief, however we now see the young girl and boy wearing winter clothing army crawl under the bed as the camera pans from right to left. The scene however starts with them already being under the bed, showing their feet as they crawl further underneath.

0:16 – 0:18

We now see the boy from the first scene, having found something on the shelves he was previously looking through. He is now in the bathroom with an object wrapped in a towel, which for a split second reveals the barrel of a gun. He is unwrapping the gun in this scene, however it does not clearly show that it is a firearm. His reflection appears in the mirror, showing that he is smiling carelessly while doing so, showing that he appears to be unaware of what is inside. The camera briefly showing the barrel of the gun once again applies to pathos, as the viewer of the scene sees something the boy does not, triggering emotion.

0:18 – 0:22

We now for the first time see the face of the third girl, as she has gotten down from the chair she was standing on. She is now on her knees on the floor, attempting to quickly clean up the mess she had caused, almost in an attempt to cover up the fact that she was going through the wardrobe in the first place. While lifting the board game, she suddenly freezes while looking back down at the ground, as for the first time she notices the gun that had fallen out along with the other items. The camera then swiftly changes from showing her and the room, to an intense zoom on just the gun itself, panning from left to right.

0:22 – 0:23

We now see the two young children in the winter clothing. They had pulled out boxes that were under the bed and are now wearing hats, while the floor is cluttered with old clothes and another board game. The young boy is once again kneeling, only this time his hands are together almost as if in prayer. The girl is putting a hat on his head, however all of the attention of the scene is focused on the large rifle that they had also pulled out from underneath. Seemingly oblivious however, they continue with their game of dressup. 

0:23 – 0:24

The last scene returns to the original boy, who is still located in the bathroom. This time however, the camera is in front of him revealing his face, however the view is cut off at the waist. He is looking down holding something, and we see a swift movement as he appears to cock back a gun that is not visible. As soon as he does so, he looks up, appearing frightened as if he had just been caught. The abrupt ending and transition to a black screen creates uncertainty and fear in the viewer, once again focusing on pathos.

Posted in mhmokaysure, Visual Rhetoric | 1 Comment

Open Strong – BabyGoat

Posted on October 19, 2020 by BabyGoat

1. The reason our bodies like to respond to music instantly may be hard to understand, but it may not be hard to understand why we like music. When we listen to music that we like, it pleases our sense of hearing. When something pleases us, we tend to like to indulge ourselves in it as much as we can. Is music a drug? It releases dopamine at the signs of happiness just like a street drug. Music can affect our mood for better or worse. 

2. The lovely complicated relationship between the nervous system and music may be solved as testing and experimentation continue. Music seems to make our bodies react in a different way when we hear it. Is it the rhythm that we can time in our minds? Is it the beautiful kiss of high frequencies? We don’t know. But the music we listen to can influence our mood for better or worse.

Posted in babygoat, Open Strong Take Home | Leave a comment

Open Strong – shadowswife

Posted on October 19, 2020 by shadowswife

Opening 1: Korean pop’s inspirations were derived from black hip hop culture; however, their use of the genre is not out of gratitude for black culture. For many years, K-pop has been notorious for incorporating black hip-hop culture as a concept in the Korean music industry. With Korean artists using this culture in their music career, it is expected that they would be knowledgeable of the racial significance hip-hop has on people of color. However, in actuality, their use of the stereotypical aspects of black hip-hop culture and ignorance towards a person of color’s hardships proves their true intentions. South Korea’s exploitation of hip-hop artists illustrates their lack of support and consideration of historical black movements.

Opening 2: With the global success of Korean pop, it is no surprise that Korean artists would be given the opportunity to collaborate with various artists and have access to more efficient ways of creating music. With their main inspiration hailing from black hip-hop culture, it is ironic that they show little to no appreciation for people of color working with them. It is evident that their reluctance to support people of color and ignorance of their history music reflects upon their cooperation with them. They fail to give black songwriters and producers the right amount of credit for their work, and those artists are outraged by hypocrisy for exploiting their culture. South Korea’s benefit from cultural appropriation is internationally straining its relationship with other black artists.

Posted in Open Strong Take Home, shadowswife | Leave a comment

Safer Saws Tcarter101

Posted on October 19, 2020 by tcarter101

The inventor “In 2015, 4,700 people in the US lost a finger or other body part to table-saw incidents. Most of those injuries didn’t have to happen, thanks to technology invented in 1999 by entrepreneur Stephen Gass.” 

Reluctant Manufacturers:-” the mechanism for stopping the saw blade is much different between the two saws” since the federal government is considering making this new safety feature mandatory for all table saws.

Determined regulators  many customer safety representatives are pushing for this safety feature to be added. They are pushing for it to be a mandatory feature for all table saws 

Gass-since Gass own a lot of pattens technology designs sources say that it will give them a monopoly on the table saw industry

Delighted customers- many owners of commercial  wood working shops that are more willing to buy  these products are very enthusiastic because it reduces the previous risk of these injuries which causes a negative downtick for them because the injuries cause people to stop their projects and have too much down time to where it stops completely and they lose interest.   

Resistance free markets -Many people like contractors and handymen are more likely to consider buying things like this so they continue their business and make money. 

Outraged plaintiffs- many of these other saw and tool company manufacturers are not happy about this being mandatory because it can double the cost of entry level table saw.making the price go from $1,500 to $4,000  which can drastically affect their business. As well as prevent certain people from being able to afford it. They don’t believe that this necessary since there has not been an amputation from their thousands of customers 

The constituents:

  1. Manufacturers (Steve Gass, Bosch, others)
  2. Customers
  3. Industry Spokespeople
  4. Consumer Safety Advocates
  5. Injured Plaintiffs
  6. Personal Injury Lawyers
  7. Government Officials
Posted in Safer Saws | Leave a comment

Visual Rhetoric- bluntwriting88

Posted on October 19, 2020 by bluntwriting88

0-1 -The center of our focus is upon these two female friends. We assume this since they’re in their late teens to early twenties indicated by the group of textbooks in front of them and are sitting on a couch ‘together’ in presumably one of their homes. The home looks comfortable, with furnishings, ample furniture, and appealing décor. Instantly, we can tell from their faces that something is not right. We know this as the girls’ heads are down, and to the left, a universal human body sign of contemplation and unease. The left girl is nervously ‘self touching’ her hands which furthers the sense of unease., as does the right girl. Especially considering they are ‘right beside’ one another. However, they really are not beside one another. Between them in the couch is empty space – a void. There is a void between the two girls, and they sit on the couch pondering what exactly may be causing this apparent and distinct void. What we can tell from left girl’s foot and leg is that it appears unstable and contorted in an odd fashion, indicating a base level of anxiety

2 – 4 -The camera pans to left girl’s unaltered face. Clearly, she is thinking about something troubling judging by her gloominess and her stagnant stare into something. Right girl turns her head to left girl, an aberration from the stagnant looks of the girls. She gives a firm and stern look, with not much faltering in her fine eye muscles. We see a little bit of her mouth is pursed more towards one side of her face, a tightness. This suggests that what she is about to ask is difficult, considering the two are struggling even to talk or look at one another while sitting on the same couch. Right girl as she opens her mouth instead takes a breath which halts her speech as she turns her neck back to the front, no longer intending to say anything to her friend. Right girl decided that she couldn’t surpass whatever struggle it is which prevents her from speaking to her friend. Right girl is facing front once again, with her friend on the left again unchallenged in her stagnant look. However, left girl’s eyes are this time up and to the right. She and her friend are not thinking of the same thing anymore, as we are in a similar looking frame as the principal frame, but with left girl’s eyes looking and thinking at another location after being unable to speak to her friend across what separates them.

5-7 -A turtlenecked man appears between the friends. He emerges from inside the couch from the void between the two girls, where only his torso is visible. He is the embodiment of the void between friends. Here he is breaking the fourth wall, emerging for the purpose of speaking directly to the audience in an aside. He is looking directly at us. The camera zooms in on the turtlenecked man as he beckons his head in confirmation about what we thought, expected, and analyzed. That is, that the void between the two girls was awkward as was their lack of interaction. Since he is that void, he is the anthropomorphism of the awkward void between the two friends, smiling and confirming that right at us. It is clear that he is the narrator character of this short.

8-10 -Two male friends now, in the same exact posing as the two girls in the principle shot, looking down, and to the left, not speaking to acknowledging one another while sharing a nice hot tub session. They once again define dichotomy. The turtlenecked man awkwardly appears in the spatial void between them only to look at us smiling in confirmation of our suspicions of alienation and struggle between two seemingly close-yet-distant friends which do not acknowledge or speak to one another. The dichotomy is emphasized by the fact that the two friends choose the two closest urinals out of a whole series of empty ones in a large sports bathroom.          While two football players urinated next to one another in adjacent urinals, the turtlenecked man awkwardly appears between them squeezed between the urinals. He turns his head to confirm to us, the viewers with a smile of the bizarre, uncomfortable, and awkward nature of what he is doing.

11 – 12 -Seemingly two lovers are now in bed naked with one another, with the turtlenecked man awkwardly squeezed between them in the mattress, once again breaking the fourth wall to the viewer looking directly at us and confirming that something is awry between the two lovers. The lovers quickly glance at each other, only to reactionarily look away. Many times in life one may encounter an uncomfortable situation where it is difficult to look at a person for whatever reason it may be – pain, struggle, disagreement, etc. However, the overbearing theme being displayed is uncomfortability and awkwardness between two close people, where they are so close (physically) yet so far (emotionally) represented by the void, and the turtlenecked man. Again, after a short glance, no words are spoken, only hesitation.

         As this is the third instance of the same general display on screen, now with three different sets of different types of friend-duos, the creator of this short has now solidified a theme via a generalization of a pattern to the viewers. That is, a close duo, separated by an awkward and uncomfortable void which alienates them, where even in seemingly intimate situations, maybe the most intimate, the duo is unable to fully acknowledge the void and communicate over it.

13-16 -We return to the hot tub, focus on the turtlenecked man. He is the focus object, and still betwixt the two alienated friends. He is speaking to us, the audience, directly. He is no longer smiling. He looks firm, yet slightly shakes his head negatively (side to side). His wide eyes look right at us. Us and him are know really communicating via this fourth wall break.

Quickly changing to the girls, but zoomed in on himself, the man points to the right girl.

17- 20 – Right girl repeats her actions from the beginning of the short, taking a breath, and looking over to her friend in the identical stagnant and negative pose described earlier. Right girl now takes a breathe and finally utters some words after the awkward moment between them has faded. Finally, they communicate.

22 – Left girl finally looks at her friend, the most significant development thus far between the two friends. She looks directly at right girl with her mouth slightly ajar with a massive gaze with a surprised look. When awkward silences are broken, sometimes it is abrupt, sometimes surprising even. Sometimes the awkward silence was due to the fact that was being anticipated or desired to be said was rather too touchy or difficult to even utter. The creator of the short displays for the viewer a sudden climax between the two friends as they speak to strengthen the dichotomy of close friends being  unable to close the gap between them on a touchy and difficult topic that is affecting left girl in this case (as she was the principle one in the broody appearance). Left girl’s massive gaze is broken by a restoration into her original gloomy look: down, and to the left. Clearly this is tough for her as she moves her mouth but does not speak.

23 – In a development, right girl continues to speak firmly to her friend.

24 – The turtlenecked man is alone, in a different chair in a different part of the room, looking at the viewer with both his thumbs up with an honestly approving face immediately after what just occurred between the two girls. The creator of the short is utilizing the man and his thumbs-up to show us that he, the literal embodiment of awkwardness and discomfort, is better not between two close friends, as ought to be. He is no longer in between them. Where he was originally in the void between them, he is no longer, and this is a positive thing as now the two friends can once more converse without ‘him’ i.e. the awkwardness betwixt them.

25 – end – The closing shot shows the two friends situated as in the principal shot, this time however, turtleneck man is not there, and the two friends are looking consistently and amiably at one another, with left girl’s hands still self-touching, but with her leg now stable, representing a more stable position. As she looks to right girl, right girl’s entire body is aimed at her friend, and she is deeply involved in the conversation they are having. As shown before, getting rid of the awkward barrier to talk to one another is the most important thing in friendships when it comes to honest communication and well-being, especially mental well being.

Reference Video:

Posted in bluntwriting, Visual Rhetoric | 1 Comment