Hey guys here's the link to the article about makeup that I was talking about in class today! It's a really short read but has a really powerful message.

http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.lewisu.edu/stable/23056501?pq-origsite=summon&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

So I was scrolling through the app Ifunny, not sure if any of you guys still use it or have used it but I think it's hilarious! Anyways, I came across this image and immediately knew I had to use this for our visual rhetoric project. The image drew me in because you can obviously tell the woman views herself as an alien or some hideous creature without make up on. More often than not, if a woman or girl wears makeup on a daily basis then decides to not wear it one day then she may feel as if she doesn't look as great as she usually does. I'm one of those girls that wears it on a daily basis and I like to have fun with it, using winged eyeliner one day or a different shade of eyeshadow another day. I feel like it's an easy way to change up your look when you're bored. If I decide to go without makeup then I feel as if people stare at me in a different way or they'll either say "you look tired" or "you look sick" which makes me question why I ever left the house without makeup on. I know online you can find millions of pictures, quotes, and sayings that say all women are beautiful without makeup and that we shouldn't care what other people think about us but I honestly don't feel like my usual self if I'm not wearing makeup, which is sad to say. I started wearing makeup around 7th and 8th grade and it's been a habit of wearing it everyday since then. Of course I won't bother to put any on on my days off because that would be pointless, but I think it's fun to play around with different looks especially if I'm going on a date or to a special event. There are some girls who never wear makeup and still feel confident, which is great for them! But I'm not one of those girls and that's why I felt like this image was so relatable and humorous because that's exactly how I feel if I don't wear any makeup. Hopefully some of you girls can relate as well!

Hey everyone! I know we're kind of coming towards the end of our informative and surprising essays, but I can honestly say this paper and the workshops we've had have really helped me to progress more as a writer. All of the articles I used to help write my paper were found on Google and I never really even considered adding a scholarly article into my research. But I feel like doing this as an assignment not only helped me to better understand our library's resources, but it also helped me to appreciate the values of using a scholarly source. Some of the pleasures that came out of using a scholarly article in my essay was that I know this information is from a credited source and not just some opinion article found somewhere on the Internet. The person who wrote this article obviously put a lot of time and research into writing this piece and I found the information to be very useful to add into my essay. I feel like this source makes my essay sound better and more professional in a way. Some of the challenges I faced while using a scholarly article was finding one that interests me as well as fits in with my essay topic. I must've spent a good forty-five minutes to an hour just searching for an article that I wanted to use in my essay. It took a lot of investigating and I read so many different scholarly articles but I finally came across one that I really enjoyed. Another challenge I faced was how to address the article in my essay because there were no authors mentioned within the article, so I really had to spend extra time on my attributive tags. Although I faced some challenges while finding a good scholarly article, I found the process and the use of one to be very beneficial. I hope all of your essays are coming along well! See you all next week, have a good weekend! :)

Rant reflection:

As a little bit of a reflection upon why I chose to write about what I did, I picked this topic because I’ve been in all of these situations. I wasn’t a child at the time but I was that teenager who would never really open up to my parents, and when I would, they would be scrolling through Facebook or surfing the internet while on their phones and laptops. Still to this day, they continue to do it. I know they see it as harmless, whatever, everyone does it. But if your son or daughter is trying to tell you about their day or what their plans for the week are and they bring it up a few days later and you don’t recall the conversation, then obviously that’s a problem.

I chose to use Facebook to make this public because so many people today are on Facebook. I believe with the help of friends, my rant could be shared from one Facebook page to another, spreading my thoughts and opinions about how much technology has consumed our lives. I see posts shared by friends on a daily basis, and with a little help, I know I could get my point across to many others out there.

Honestly, after reading the article I found online during class, my eyes have really opened up in regards to how often we use technology. I really put a lot of thought into this and reading about how we cannot have a whole conversation without feeling the need to check our phones is upsetting. What’s more upsetting is that so many people can admit to doing this too. I’m not so innocent here either, but this article really kind of sparked up this rant of mine. We devote so much of our attention to our cellphones and whatever else that we forget how to hold actual conversations with real people who are right in front of us.

This article is really what gave me the idea to post my rant on Facebook. Since my rant deals with technology, I feel a lot of people who read my rant would hopefully get an eye opener and understand where I’m coming from. I’m not saying we should just throw away our cellphones, because they are very helpful when keeping in touch with family members who are across the country and what not. But if you’re with a friend or a significant other or even your child, give them your full attention and be responsive with questions and input during the conversation. It will show just how much you’re listening to them which will make for a much better conversation. We can’t show emotion through a text, but we certainly can in person. Make that person you’re with feel respected and want to engage in continuing talking with you, because if you’re staring into your phone every five minutes, it’s hard to hold a conversation with someone whose attention isn’t fully there. Consider what I have said, and consider what you need or want to change about yourself to prevent yourself from doing these same things to others.

 

Hey everyone! I decided to use Facebook as my way of sharing my thoughts and opinions for my rant project, so here it is!
 

Hello Facebook friends! As you all know, social media is a very easy and good way of spreading information around because we have the ability to like and share one another’s posts. The whole reason why I am writing this post is because I want to get this out there and I hope with all of your help it can reach out to more and more people by simply sharing this.

What I want to discuss is the use of technology in today’s society. In order for you to be viewing this post right now, you’re obviously using some form of technology, whether it’s a smart phone, a tablet, laptop, iPad, etc. In some form or another, many of us use technology on a day to day basis. Some people can’t even go a day without their phone or their laptop in their face, whether they realize it or not. A good thing is that technology is very beneficial to today’s society because it gives us access to more things than we may even realize. But along with having this access, comes the downfall of a lack of communication with others as well as forcing us to multitask.

I read an article online that really sort of opened my eyes and saddened me a bit too. By trying so hard to multitask between holding a conversation in real life and a conversation with somebody through our phones, we’re jumping back and forth between two different areas, causing us to really be nowhere. When children come home from school, many times they’re excited to talk about their days and what happened. If they notice their parent isn’t paying attention to them because they have their face buried into their phone, the child will begin to think that they’re boring or that something’s wrong with them. It’s hurtful and whether the parents realize it or not, they’re slowly creating an unrepairable wall between them and their child as time goes on. Soon, the child will grow older and become addicted to technology just like how they saw their parent’s addicted to it. Then the parents will argue and yell at the now grown child because all they ever do is play on their phone or computer. But isn’t it the parent’s fault because they made it seem like it was okay while the child was growing up?

It’s disappointing to see how much society has changed. Today, it’s a common thing to see people staring at their phones while out to dinner or walking down the sidewalk. What happened to the old fashioned ways of giving your full attention to the person you’re with? It’s insulting and annoying to be around someone who stares into their phone constantly and barely gives you the time of day or asks you to repeat a story multiple times. How far are we going to let this technology take over our lives and control how we communicate with people in real life? Don’t get me wrong, texting and emailing and calling are great ways to stay in touch with people, but it’s also important to keep in touch with the people you’re physically with as well. Give them your full attention; that text or email can usually wait until later. Unless it’s absolutely one hundred-percent important, put your phone down for just a little while and actually listen to what the people around you have to say. We miss out on so much by having our minds in another reality while checking all of our social media apps and trying to communicate with those who aren’t with us.

So put your phone down and pay attention to your child that’s trying to tell you how exciting their day was. Pay attention to what your friends around you are talking about. Listen to what your significant other has to say while you’re out to dinner. Our time here on Earth is limited so we should cherish all of these moments while we have them.

Thanks for reading everybody!

 

Hey guys! Here is a list of the rants that I free wrote about in class the other day!

 

• I can't stand when I run into old friends from high school and they act like they don't even know me or they fake a smile and run along. It just irritates me and it hurts to know that someone you used to be so close with can treat you like such a nobody.
• It gets on my nerves when I see or hear about teenagers, especially those who are under age, who do nothing but party on the weekends and get drunk and high. When I was in high school, the thought of drinking or doing drugs never even crossed my mind because I had better things to do with my time and I hung out with the right crowd. These kids don't consider the danger and risks their putting their lives in by giving up all control of their bodies and becoming completely wasted.
• I work as a cashier at a retail store and on a daily basis I have customers who get mad at me because I ask to see their ID if the back of their debit or credit card isn't signed. It's a company policy and I'm supposed to ask, otherwise I'll get in trouble if I don't. I had a guy cuss me out the other day for asking and it just ruined the rest of my day. Some customers can just be so rude and obnoxious with some of the things they do or say. I could go on all day about my pet peeves as a cashier.
• I can't stand when people assume I'm going to be a police officer when I say I'm majoring in criminal justice. Then they tell me I'm too small and petite and could never be a cop before they even ask what I really want to do as a career. There's so much more you can do with a criminal justice degree than just be a cop!
• I can't stand how much technology has taken over our lives. Don't get me wrong it can be very useful and handy sometimes which I am very thankful, but other times it's just unnecessary. It irritates me so much when I'm out on a date and the other person is glued into their phone. It makes me feel like I'm boring or not good enough to have their full attention, just put your phone down! It can wait until after dinner, whatever it is. Trust me guys, girls are going to get upset if you stare into your phone the entire date so don't do it! Social media is another big factor that can really ruin relationships. It's amazing to learn just how much things have changed in this era compared to what it used to be.

 

Highs and lows of the documentary Supersize Me!

Hey guys! So I thought class today was rather engrossing because of how everyone expressed their thoughts about their documentaries. A lot of people in class did their documentary project on the film Supersize Me which made it easy to relate to everyone else's ideas. Listed first are a couple of the highs of the film that I believe stood out the most in my opinion.

• Spurlock firsthand experiences what it's like to take in McDonald's products three times a day for a month straight, making it a much more personal film. It also really adds to his credibility.
• His documentary caused McDonald's to get rid of their Supersize option on their menu.
• A main focus of this documentary was to study and prove how damaging it is to eat at McDonald's this often.
• Another main focus is showing the negative effects of processed foods, especially in schools. A study showed that troubled kids being kept in a detention home/school were given healthy non-processed foods and they were excelling in their classes. They seemed happier and more energetic.
• This film has become quite famous and has already had a strong impact on society.
• As tough as this experience was, Spurlock stuck it out throughout the entire film which showed just how dedicated he was.

Here is a list of the lows of the film:

• Spurlock's health plummets, causing him to become very lethargic and depressed.
• Spurlock gains about twenty-five pounds in weight and suffers from severe liver damage at the end of the film.
• He begins to experience heart palpitations and has trouble walking up and down the stairs without becoming exhausted.
• Spurlock throws up his entire meal just a few days into the experiment.
• Spurlock faces multiple concerns from his doctors and nutritionists over his health and they plead him to stop eating all of this McDonald's.