Collabo Propo numero uno

After reading all of the collaborative proposals that the class has submitted, I have been very impressed with the overall quality of these proposals and have been very glad with how much of a pleasure it has been to work with my group.  If I had to choose a favorite proposal, I would pick the Froggie 5-0 proposal.  The paper might not be in final submission, but I feel it could turn into a gem.  Tyler has done a great job in steering the paper’s thesis.  I talked briefly with him about the paper’s direction.  He wants to make significant changes and improvements with the paper, all o fwhich we discussed I believe would impove the paper’s quality, voice, and directness.    After hearing the group’s reserach, I believe they could have great effectiveness because of the research they have done .  The gourp’s argument is that Froggie 5-0 should not be offered to just men and their target audience is still a bit unclear at this point, but I believe it should be young men attending TCU.  There is a lot of logos going on in the paper because of all the research the group has conducted.  They cite many sources and statistics regarding criminal activities and thought, along iwth stats from TCU.  The statistics they use surprise me and sway my opinion.    If I had to choose the paper’s quality right now, I would give it a 6.  However, if I had to rate the paper’s potential, I would easily give it an 8, with 10 being perfect.

Our merry progress concerning your materialistic mess.

So far for our collaborative proposal, I have done research on the reasons why we focus so much on the material fashion of Christmas, why we allowed this to happen, and how it has transformed our perception of Christmas.  This was for the group.  Research for my individual part in the paper, the introduction and the background on Christmas, has included digging up information on the traditions of Christmas dating back hundreds of years, and of course, the original reason for the season, Jesus Christ’s birth.  We decided not to bring religion into our paper because we feel the proposal will lose credit with a non-religious, Christmas-celebrating audience.  The other members of the group have written their parts, and we plan to mesh all of the parts together soon.  In our next out-of-class meeting, we will smooth all of our parts together.  We will be making sure that our transitions flow and the overall organization of our paper works.  My main concern is how the overall organization of the paper will turn out.  I want it to be apparent that there are different voices in the paper, but I do not want these contrasting voices to conflict each other or repeat each other.  Also, I am concerned that each member will speak their parts in noticeably different ways.    Regarding my individual part,  I can still conduct further research and find more about the history of Christmas.  Our visual component has already been chosen.  The visual is a song by Stephen Colbert titled “Another Christmas Song”.  I also need to finish typing up my section of the paper and making sure my section will flow well with the rest of the collaborative proposal.

My favorite Holiday..Your favorite gift…

After much deliberation, even hesitation by some group members, our group has decided to discuss the topic of the focus on the material aspect of Christmas.  This topic has become more and more prevalent over the years.  Boys and girls, men and ladies all over continue to focus more and more on the kind of Christmas that has no substance behind it, but is only a superficial time of gathering centered on receiving gifts.  We chose this topic because the group believes that it is a real problem in the United States.  We believe the Christmas holiday should be a time of giving, in the correct way, full of joy and thankfulness for all of our blessings.  Christmas used to be a time of sincere happiness.  These days, it seems all Christmas comes out to be is a time of high stress shopping, simply putting up with grumpy and annoying relatives, and just waiting for the “holiday” to be done with.  The group is disturbed by this and we plan to write on why this attitude toward such a great time of the year should be dramatically changed.   We expect to execute this proposal by appealing to our audience’s rhetorical triangle.  We will convince them and persuade them to come back to the real reasons for Christmas: happiness, joy, and thankfulness.  I will be handling the background of the Christmas holiday and where the American public has veered from the traditional, jolly path of Christmas.  The other members of the group will be working on examples of the materialistic focus of recent Christmases and we are going to be collaborating to find the solution to this problem.  This project is definitely achievable and we look forward to completing it.

BLOG POST 7- HEALTHCARE AND THE BCS

Two subjects that I would be interested in discussing and collaborating on would include healthcare and the BCS College Football system.  These are two subjects which highly interest me because they both affect me personally and I have opinions about them.

The United States’ healthcare system is broken.  Everyone knows it, but nobody can find a way to fix it that the majority agrees upon.  The Democrats in the White House are currently trying to pass legislation to put a $1.2 trillion bill into effect ASAP.  Republicans have their own plans, but it is hard to get those plans out in the open with the Dems having the majority in the house.  Common complaints with the Democrats’ plan is that it simply costs too much.  It is said that this$1.2 trillion will not add to our national deficit either.  Sounds fishy to me.  I chose this issue because I believe it is something every young adult should be informed about and have a stance on.  Many young people simply don’t know what is going on in politics because they don’t think they have a voice and politics won’t affect them.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  This affects young people because if passed, young people’s health insurance, tax rates, and quality of life could all be affected by the passing of this $1.2 trillion healthcare bill.  I feel that pathos and logos would work best, since it is unlikely that a reader would give too much credibility to a college student.    Pathos would work well because it would be easy to use examples of outcomes of socialized healthcare in other countries.  Logos would be easy to incorporate because of the sheer volume of statistics that could be used in my favor.  A classic text would work great, but video is also an option.  Many visuals could be used, including graphs and images.  To achieve these ends, I would simply portray them to the class in a scholarly manner, yet simple enough for an uninformed young adult to grasp.

The BCS needs revision.  Many agree, but like healthcare, nobody can agree on one system that is better.  A playoff?  I thought students went to school for academics, not athletics?  But they’re on scholarship?  What about the several undefeated teams over the years that have didn’t make it to the national championship due to the BCS?   The BCS does, indeed, discriminate against non-BCS conferences.  The system dimply doesn’t provide a fair chance to all NCAA Division-I teams to compete for a national championship.  Anyone who watches college sports is affected by the BCS because unless the fan’s team is in the BCS, chances are that he or she would like to change the BCS.    To each the intended target audience, I would use visuals that appeal to NCAA Division-I football fans, along with facts that would hopefully alter readers’ opinions.  Rhetorical strategies that would work best for this topic would be pathos and logos.  Putting the reader in a situation where his team didn’t make the BCS bowl they had intended for would appeal to the reader’s emotions.    Facts would further encourage the reader to change their opinions of the BCS.  Visuals would work well in gaining the reader’s initial attention to read the article.  Methods that would work well include video or text.  To achieve this in class, I would inform the audience about reasons why the BCS is not the optimal system for college football, and what ways it can be changed for the better.

Visible, but impossible to see..

In the excerpt from Jamison Green’s Visible Man, Green describes his struggle with gender, sex, and how the world perceives both of them. I can relate to Green not on the level of sex and gender, but being misinterpreted. Throughout my life, I have always been misinterpreted as a jock who only chased girls and players running with footballs. The truth is, there is much more to me than people would think at first glance. When I was in fifth grade, my dream was to be on the varsity football team, making the big plays on Friday nights under the bright lights and screaming fans. I worked hard for my accomplishments over the years, and landed the spot I had dreamed of. This is the first point where I am misinterpreted. People assume that because I am an athlete, I do not have work ethic. This is the furthest thing from the truth. I have never been the biggest person on the field, whether that “field” be turf or in the classroom. However, I learned early on that working hard is the first step to being productive and successful. A football coach once told me “You’ll never look back on success and say ‘This wasn’t worth the work.’” In workouts, I had to bust my tail to keep up with everyone else who had natural athletic ability. Jenks was a football powerhouse and I fought for my position day in and day out. Likewise, during my Freshman year at TCU, I fought every day to gain acceptance into the Neeley Fellows program. The program was a big reason I decided to attend TCU, so my eyes were set on the Fellows prize from day one. Through hard work and dedication, I made it into Fellows. In the end, much of the time, athletes have a harder work ethic because they can translate the work they put in during sports to the work they can put in the classroom, home, or workplace. Secondly, people seem to never take me seriously. In the past, every time I approach a subject with a serious tone, I am laughed at and taken less serious than I would have been taken by introducing a joke. My personality comes off as humorous and sarcastic, but that’s just the outer layer of me. Underneath the sarcasm, I enjoy discussing many thing that people would never guess. For instance, I have recently gotten very interested in U.S. politics and what is going on concerning healthcare reform. When I sent an e-mail out to my class in my fraternity, I received response e-mails with friends asking me if I had sent the article on purpose. After further inquiry, nobody believed that I would ever send an article concerning politics or world events. I aim to change the perception people have of me, but this will take time. I have built a rapport with people I know and it is hard to shift this stance once the foundation has been set. However, being wrongly perceived can open people’s eyes up when I reveal the kinds of things I am interested in.

Mambo #5

Growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I attended Jenks high school.  Just as any other place in Texas or Oklahoma, high school football reigns supreme above all other sports.  During my time at Jenks, the coaching stuff influenced me and literally made me who I am today.  In particular, the head coach, Allan Trimble, has influenced me as much as any other individual in my life.  Coach Trimble taught me what it was to be a young man and has taught me countless life lessons.  Coach Trimble used several methods, including talks in person (on the field, in the locker room, at team dinners, etc.) along with TV commercials, billboard signs, e-mails, and notes to boosters and players.

Coach Trimble spoke similarly to other football coaches I have heard in the past, but at the same time ,his rhetoric, especially in certain situations, was much more intimate and meaningful than when I hear college or NFL coaches speak.  The way Coach Trimble communicated to people was much different than the “traditional” football coach.  We all know the first thing we think of when the term “football coach” comes to mind: an old cuss who doesn’t give a darn about anything except wins.  Trimble couldn’t have been further from this stereotype.  Coach gained effectiveness first in the relationship he formed with the players.  By taking a respectful approach to players, they gained trust in him and developed a loyalty to the head coach.   When players respect a coach, they listen to a coach.  When players listen to a coach, they succeed, which is a positive feedback cycle.  Secondly, Coach Trimble was effective because of the rhetoric he used.  Coach never used complex words to try and sound like he was above the players, and didn’t talk to us like we were illiterate.  Trimble communicated by using effective, meaningful word choices, such as “Hey guys, we know what we have to do.  The only people that can beat us is ourselves.  Let’s go out there, have some fun, play like we know how, and the win will take care of itself.”  In situations like this, Trimble is effective because he stands behind his players, not belittling or threatening, but instead uplifting and encouraging players.  He tells them not to concentrate on winning, but if the team went and out and played relaxed, the win would come naturally.

When I think back to Coach Trimble’s speeches, whether they were at the end of practice, on a game night on Friday, or at a team dinner on Thursday night, they always inspired me to do my best and put in my best effort.  Trimble used to say “In life we have priorities. Here’s what yours should be: Faith, Family, Academics, and Football. In that order.”  This always gained Trimble much respect from my eyes.  I always appreciated the fact that I had a figure like Coach Trimble in my life.  When Trimble would give his pre-game speeches on Friday nights, they would inspire and motivate me to do my very best.  This carried over not only on the gridiron, but also was applied in the real world.  I developed my responsibility, discipline, respect, integrity, work ethic from football, and Coach Trimble had a direct influence on these from the rhetorical choices he used.

On a technical basis, I was not always a part of Coach’s audience, but I forever am now.  I still watch videos of the game and watch coach on TV when I can.  Trimble still motivates and inspires me to do well to this day.

After watching several videos of Coach Trimble and reading many of his e-mails and booster club addresses, I have figured out that in order to get someone to change, you must relate with them.  Coach Trimble relates with every person he talks to and gives the sense that he genuinely cares.  This si simply because he does.

Hello sir, or should I say madam?

What is gender?  Some people say “boy or girl”, others “ male or female”, and some rebels state “ you have to look for the real evidence”.  The World Health Organization, on its website, defines gender as “The socially constructed roles, behaviour, activities and attributes that a particular society considers appropriate for men and women.” Gender according to them has nothing to do with sex characteristics, which often have been traditionally associated with gender.  The World Health Organization associates gender with behavior and culture.  This view is very different from what was considered gender 50 years ago.  Gender has often been synonymous with sex.  In recent years, with sex changes becoming less and less taboo, gender and sex are becoming two different words with two very different meanings. The World Health Organization is saying that one’s gender can be influenced by the environment one is raised in, and the attitudes and experiences one is surrounded by.   When Green discusses what gender really is, he conveys that gender is what one feels.  Green says that when he was a woman, he never felt like a woman.  Even though he might not have always known it, Green always knew he was a he, even when he was a she.  Green says “ I was a teenager and hoped ridiculously that wearing the right dress or carrying a purse would make me a girl.”  Green also tells the reader that there is something deeper within that is gender, apart from physical expression.  Even though Green might be able to fall under the classification of a male according to the WHO’s standards, I believe he feels a need to redefine “gender” because of his experiences.  Green says that gender is a language, because, to him, it really is. Green feels that gender is more of a feeling, an instinct even, and that society does not have the right to classify you as something because of superficial characteristics.  That is, until people perceive you how you prefer to be thought of.  When Green discusses gender and transexualism in his book, he obviously wants anybody to read it, but he really is reaching out to people that do not know many facts regarding transexualism or sex changes.  Green makes this clear in his opening pages when he draws sympathy for aspiring transsexuals.  He discusses how many transsexuals are denied medical insurance, how many transsexuals are not allowed to have his or her name changed, and several other circumstances when it is apparent that transsexuals are not treated like another member of society. Green appeals and reaches to this audience because he wants to inform the general public about transexualism and the misconceptions it hold.  Green is trying to lessen the “taboo factor” of the subject.  As the audience would likely agree with me, especially after reading this article, gender is quite contestable.  The simple and obvious point is the difference in definitions used for gender by Green and the WHO.  Neither one is more right that the other, but one definition might be more easily applicable to a certain person experiencing different situations and environments.  Before reading, I was just like the average person, thinking gender and sex were two congruent terms that could simply replace one another in a sentence.  I had never thought about the difference between gender and sex, but after reading this section of Green’s book, my views are altered and I respect Green for what he is trying to do and how he is approaching it, not shoving hard-pressed opinions down the reader’s throat, but including personal stories of his and giving clever insight to persuade the reader.  Maybe some politicians should take after these approaches?  Wait, no, they’d be barred from the position before they could say “we need change”…