Month: November 2020

Brainstorm Ideas:

• Should students be required to learn an instrument in school?
• Can introverts become good leaders?
• Should tipping in restaurants be mandatory?
• Importance of higher education?

Volume: Ideas and speech must be coherent as their purpose is to be heard by the audience. Not too quiet and not too loud, rather a comfortable conversational volume.

Variety of tone: Varying tone according to the different ideas being discussed disallows a monotone speech. Tone can also help emphasize specific points to help the audience remember important details.

Eye contact with audience members: Eye contact is a way to keep your audience’s attention. If my eyes wander, theirs might too.

Gestures and body movements that flow naturally and expressively: Gestures are also a way to emphasize specific points in a speech. In some cases, they can also enhance a description in the speech.

Peer response:

For this activity, I read Ryan’s response, in which he discusses how as a child, Gregory had no way to control or change the circumstances he was living in. Ryan also explained that they feelings of shame were created about of embarrassment of his socioeconomic status being recognized by others. I also talked about this in my response, as it wasn’t so much his status that he was unhappy about, but more so the recognition of his status to others. Ryan also talked about the intense shame that’s felt when you get embarrassed in front of your crush, while I saw Helene in more of a symbolic way, where she represents what Gregory dreams of being and Gregory likes her because of envy.

Individual Writing:

Over the summer, I watched a Korean historical drama depicting Korea’s struggle for independence in the early 1900s and the beginning of the Japanese control of Korea. At the time, Korea as a country was really weak after isolating itself from the rest of the world and not being current with the technological advancements of the rest of the world. Because of this, they were super vulnerable to occupation of other countries. The Japanese end up colonizing the Korean peninsula and because Korea was so weak as a country, they could barely fight back. However, resistance fighters, calling themselves the Righteous Army, made informal attempts to fight back against the Japanese, but they were unsuccessful as they were no match against the powerful Japanese forces. During this time under Japanese rule, Koreans were severely mistreated by the Japanese, with the men being deported into forced labor or conscription into the Japanese army and the women forced to become comfort women for the Japanese military. Korea remained a Japanese colony for 35 years, until Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces in WWII. Though they were no longer under Japanese rule, Korea had become a divided peninsula, which is still divided today. Because of this era in Korean history, many Koreans still have deep rooted negative feelings towards the Japanese, who never formally apologized.

Group: Sabrina, Lillah, Valyntina

Y. William Ellis (2012) asserts that world problems such as poverty, pollution, war, and hunger are inherent in the current system of world order based on nation-states and economic competition (p. 23).

Y. Global tensions and inequities can be solved if people begin to help one another on a grass-roots basis, moving beyond the current world order of economic competition (p. 23).

N. Ellis (2011) argues that global problems are often a result of exploitation inherent in economic competition. He contends that “grass roots….people-to people linkages irrespective of national borders” can do much to ease global tensions (p. 23).

Y. Economic competition is at the basis of many of the world’s problems (Ellis, 2012, p. 23). Only by seeing ourselves as a single family without the separation of national boundaries can world tensions begin to be eased.

N. Ellis (2011) argues that world problems are caused by overpopulation and that the only possible solution is an enforced tax on families who have more than one child (p. 23).

Alaskan wetlands offer advantages such as erosion and flood control, homes and food for wildlife, and natural beauty and products for humans’ benefit (Hall et al, 2011).

Because they are not readily influenced, assertive people gain respect from others, and they experience success in guiding their own lives, nurturing good relationships, and achieving their goals (Hargie et al, 2000, p. 271).

A Popular Mechanics article notes that University of Georgia researchers have found a new use for worn tires: instead of having them on trees as swings, they’re using them as mulch (“Tires Return”, 2000).

For this activity, I read Sahara’s response, in which she discussed the importance of recognizing the audience. She explains that knowing the audience you have will allow you to build an argument that caters towards them. She included a good example of this from the textbook in which the audience is bored from listening to a presentation they obviously have no interest in. In my own response, I also chose to discuss the importance of understanding the people that constitute your audience, however, I explained that it’s better to assume that now everyone in your audience has the same level of knowledge on a certain topic. This way you can fully explain your points to make sure everyone follows your presentation.

Sahara also included the importance of counter arguments in her response. I think this is a good way to increase credibility in your argument.

For this activity, I read Emily’s response and saw that we both talked about the differences in written arguments and oral arguments. We both agreed that written arguments are pretty standard in using a lot of details when presenting an argument, while in an oral argument, language is more concise and to the point to allow for better understanding in the audience. In Emily’s response, she used the same example in different contexts to describe the differences between the two modes of arguments, while both of my examples were more focused on how a written argument is transformed into an oral one.