Exploration 9 - Lorenzo Palma

Part One:
I would say, that even though this essay wasn't the best out of all three essays, I'd say that my last paper was the best paper I've written in my opinion. I really changed up the way that I conveyed my voice in this paper. Instead of the 'claim-evidence-warrant' robot I am, I mixed it up and just went with what sounded essential in my head. It was sort of like a rant, but with structure to it. Also, it was an educated rant. I have done a lot of research in this topic because music is one of the things that really interest me and I'm really passionate about music.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Passage #1
Music supplements, complements, and conjures emotion in all different settings whether it be, real-life, movies, video games, performances or advertisements. But what if someone told you that all of those emotions, like Hope, Triumph, Anxiety, Misery, Elation, Doom and Gloom; Music did not contain any of those emotions. Yes, the lyrics might, but the music does not. So, for example, Major Chords aren’t happy while Minor Chords aren’t sad. It’s just the fact that people have been “trained” to hear them that way. Plato had a theory: The Imitation Theory, which states that music imitates the movement or characteristics of a physical expression or “general feeling”. So essentially, wide intervals in music sound expansive and accepting while upward harmonic progressions sound uplifting and jaunty rhythms sound… jaunty.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd say this passage is a good example of the rant-y, informed voice that I tried to convey. I was being really annoying, giving abrupt and abundant examples of what emotions music can exhibit, of all the things that music could be used for, because there are so many things that music can have people feel, see or hear that there's technically no time to stop and think about it all. Then, the evidence that I was using in my paper, like Plato's imitation theory, was something that people wouldn't think music would be related to but it is extremely related to music.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Passage #2
Cultural Training explains why brake squeals or explosions don’t affect us as listeners because we simply think of them as not containing meaning but to some level they still could have the same characteristics that should affect us in an emotional aspect. We are not emotionally receptive to those sounds; we have that emotional wall because we are “Culturally Trained” to not expect any communication from those certain sounds. Two researchers, Patrik Juslin and Daniel Västfjäll, boiled the list of things that would cause us to be receptive to sounds into 6 main categories: Brain Stem Reflexes, Evaluative Conditioning, Emotional Contagion, Visual Imagery, Episodic Memory and Musical Expectancy all contribute to the ways we feel stuff while hearing things. In other words, sad music isn’t simply, “sad.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This passage is another good way to show the kind of research I did for this paper. I don't want to sound pretentious, but I'm proud of the amount of research I did for this project. I was willing to do a lot of digging in order to prove my point because "sad music" not being sad is not something that 95% percent of the world's population would think (I'm exaggerating here.)

Part Two & Three:
My final subject for this class (Oh man, that sounds so morose...) would be the story of "The Wolf Among Us". It's a video game that takes place in a little city in New York called Fabletown. It's where many fairy tale characters, called fables (which is also what the story arc of the game is based off of) have moved to so they could start new lives outside of their books.

This is the cover art for the game, showing the main character of this

story, Bigby Wolf a.k.a. The Big Bad Wolf of 'Little Red Riding Hood' and 'The Three Little Pigs.'

Bigby Wolf is the sheriff of Fabletown. In charge of managing all of the fables, keeping them from killing each other since, now that they live outside of their stories they have the freedom of making their own choices instead of following their story which tells them what to do, where to go, and essentially, when to live... or die. But, as fictional as these fairy tales get, the problems that these fables experience are more or less the same as most human beings, mundies, experience. First, there's the problem of the economy. Families that derived from royalty, Beauty and the Beast for example, are used to their higher-than-life lifestyle. They were used to having very intricate and expensive items.

Beauty and the beast being confronted by Sheriff Bigby for taking loans

out and spending all of it on all of their unnecessarily expensive belongings. 

Beauty and the Beast are pressured to take loans from a dangerous crime lord because, firstly, the government in place did not help them financially for things that they needed: Food, Clothing, and Shelter. When they started taking loans out, the money that they had in their possession, at the time, was more than enough to supply their needs so they used the extra to buy their other belongings. Their addiction to spending and taking out loans put them under more and more debt, just so they could get that little rush of luxury as they bought these things. This I feel like is a very real situation that, although not everybody will go through, is something that people could experience more than what most people would expect. But speaking of the government, another problem that The Wolf Among Us addressed is the corruption that exists in the government.

Ichabod Crane, the mayor of Fabletown. He abuses his employees

when things don't go well and he personally doesn't address them, instead having the same

employees he abuses take care of them.

Ichabod Crane, the acting mayor of Fabletown, was exactly how he was depicted in his story, 'The Legend of Sleeping Hollow,' which was that he was a scheming, selfish, character who only cared about his own self gratification. He ran Fabletown without actually running it himself instead leaving all the work to his assistant, Snow White. While he didn't do anything to help the city rise up from its people's problems, he was also stealing money from the city in order to supply his own pleasantries from a nice house and a nice car, to hiring hookers. Although this would be an extreme example of corruption, it's not something that is absent in reality and is not something that is essentially addressed and examined as much as it should.

These two examples aren't all of what The Wolf Among Us depicts in its story. What impresses me is that, although it may be a short story, it lets the player/reader know about how many problems that us real people experience.

Explortaion Nine - Haley ClevelandBull

Exploration Nine – Of Your Own Design

Through the semester, I am most proud of my profile essay Priscilla Mead: Feminism and Legislature.  Due to the fact that it is much too long to post to the blog, I’ll share my beginning paragraph.

Prior to and throughout the early 1960’s a remarkable woman was defined, through society’s fallacious lens, as stated in the beginning of Mona Lisa Smile, a provocative period piece on feminism set in the 1950’s, “It is our duty, nay, our obligation to reclaim our place in the home, bearing the children that will carry our traditions into the future, [so that women may once again fulfill] the roles they were born to fill… [Remember] the only grade that matters is the one he gives you” (Mona Lisa Smile, 2003).  Today, a remarkable women is defined by her intelligence, achievements, and most importantly her integrity and character.  Though the battle of feminism is not over, women in the 21^st century are truly blessed to have the opportunities throughout their lives and to have access to the education that allows them to choose any career path they aspire to follow that will lead them to success.  Being an exceptional woman still takes much effort, but because of an aspiration, a discipline, and a successful endeavor it is possible to gain recognition and to become a remarkable woman due to the struggle and perseverance of strong women who paved the way before us; women like Priscilla Mead.

The reason I chose to share my opening paragraph is because it contains my thesis, which will undoubtedly give a quick understanding as to my essay topic.  What made essay one my favorite, and in my opinion, best piece of work from this semester is because it provided the opportunity to connect with an acquaintance, Priscilla Mead, who is a retired female politician.

As the world shifts toward new forms of energy, it is necessary to understand the ramifications it may cause.  A topic that I feel holds importance, as I have been researching it this semester, in today’s ever growing society is environmental racism.  At the most basic level, environmental racism is the placement of hazardous waste and dangerous technologies within or in proximity to socioeconomically oppressed populations.  There are many factors that play significant roles when discussing environmental racism, but the two that I will discuss is socioeconomic status, and environmental justice.  When you reference socioeconomic status in relation to environmental racism you are generally referring to those containing “lower socioeconomic status in terms of education, poverty, unemployment and of speaking a native language” (Huyser, Sakamoto, and Takei, 541-42).  Another factor that is significant when looking at environmental racism is the defining of environmental justice by the EPA which states: “that no socioeconomic group should bare a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations” (“The Principles of Environmental Justice”, 2).  It is pertinent to be aware that though each demographic group has their own statistics in socioeconomic status that each should bare equal amounts of the “negative environmental consequences” (“The Principles of Environmental Justice”).  Unfortunately, with an ever expanding population, and the need for new forms of energy, environmental racism is occurring around the globe, and those of a lesser socioeconomic status are baring an unequal share of hazardous energy waste.

This is an image depicting the core idea behind environmental racism.  It shows a young child sitting near a sign warning of hazardous chemicals.  It definitely evokes the viewers emotions in understanding that socioeconomic status and race should not decide whether we are or aren't exposed to dangerous chemical waste, or who has the right to breath fresh air and who does not.

 

Works Cited

 Huyser, Kimberly R., Arthur Sakamoto, and Isao Takei. "The Persistence of Racial Disadvantage: The Socioeconomic Attainments of Single-Race and Multi-Race Native Americans." Population Research and Policy Review 29.4 (2010): 541-68. Web.

"Principles of Environmental Justice." Principles of Environmental Justice. N.p., 24-27 Oct. 1991. Web. 08 Dec. 2014. http://www.ejnet.org/ej/principles.html.

Image Address: http://www.mindthesciencegap.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/girls_bodies_081010-thumb-640xauto-576.jpg

Final Exploration- Haley Miner

    Part 1: Something I wrote this semester that I am very proud of is the second part of exploration 6. I am proud of this because I went back in time to a very hard time in my life. I revisited the days before and the day of my dad's death. I think I did my best writing in this piece simply because it was my own story and I had a deep connection with this. "We drove around for hours with no place to go and somehow ended up back in town. We dropped my best friend off and every time he would feel like he was dropping off one of his own children. My father treated every friend of mine like his own child because he had that affect on them" this was part of my characterization of my dad showing that he was there for anyone who needed him. I decided to share this because I know there are a lot of people that have to deal with some really hard obstacles in life and I want everyone to know that you are never alone in those times. I know from experience that there will always be at least one person who wants to help you. I tell the story of my dad so people can see who he was and meet him even though it is not in person. I also share this story to keep him alive in a certain way that is close to my heart.

    Part 2: The song I want to share ties back into my dad. I showed him this song one time and he loved it. Every time something was not going right or getting too hard to handle we would listen to this song and it would remind us that anyone can accomplish anything all they have to do is look at the bigger picture and keep fighting. I feel this song is important because everyone goes through a rough patch and need something to motivate them. This song does that for me, it motivates me knowing that this is just a small step to a bigger picture. As I always said, Life is a climb but once you get to the top the view is great. 

It was great having class with everyone and if anyone ever needs to talk about anything I will always be available to talk. Don't give up and have a wonderful college career! 

 

Exploration 9 Preston Bryan

1. The writing that I think I wrote the best would be the second paper we wrote for personal narratives. This narrative was about a choice that I made that I have come to regret. to summarize it I let a friend take the full blame for something that I was involved in. This is a paragraph is one that I think that my writing was the best frrom this semestar.
      We were enjoying the rest of our day and then we look out into the parking lot next to the campsite. What we saw there was something that made us begin to panic. There was a Park Rangers car that just pulled up to the campsite. I was just standing there staring at it, I knew exactly what they were there for and I knew that I was going to get in big trouble because of it. The ranger get out of his car and from the view I have of his face I can tell that he is not pleased to be here. One of the assistant scoutmasters goes over to the car and when they come back the troop is told to assemble down at the waterfront. By the time I get down there I think what am I going to do. I whisper to Andrew asking what we should do, and we both agree that we should admit it was us and except our punishment. Then the moment of truth come and the scoutmaster is asking the entire troop who it was who did this. He said in a loud voice “Whoever did this raise your hand”. I look at Andrew whose hand is just beginning to go up into the air. In what felt like an hour but was really just a few seconds I begin to raise my hand. Before I get my hand halfway into the air I stop. Andrew is there with his hand in the air and I am there with my hand barely raised. The crowd begins to look at him and hardly anyone has their attention on me. The park ranger looks towards him and then looks at the troop as a whole and said something that made me feel terrible. He put his attention on Andrew and said, “I could arrest you for putting that picnic table in the lake but because your boy scouts I think that this will be a good learning lesson”. As soon I he said that a lot of the stress I felt from what I did went away but now I am standing there while Andrew is take the full force of the blame for what we did.
     I Think that this is one of my best writings because it is rememrable. Out of all my uses of imagery this is one that the reader remembers. Standing in lines with everyone else is powerful image and makes it easy to remember.

2. The last subject that I will talk about are rubiks cube. Rubiks cube are a  puzzle that is a 3x3x3 cube that you mix up and then try to solve it. There are many different cubes ranging is sizes from the 2x2x2 to a 20x20x20. In the 3x3x3 there are 43252003274489856000 different permutations. Along with these cube there are also other puzzles such as the pentaminx which is like the rubiks cube but has pentagons and 12 sides instead of 6. I am talkimng about rubiks cube because it is somthing that I have dealt alot with in the past and collect them to be better at them.

                                                 \
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubik%27s_Cube

Final exploration

PART 1:
              Something that I wrote this semester that I am proud of was one of the arguments I used in essay three. My essay three was an argument on why euthanasia should be illegal. The arguments I made to support my claim were
 - It would not only be for the terminally ill.
 - It would become involuntary
- It stands against everything a physician stands for.
I think my third argument was the best piece of writing I did this semester.  I used the hippocratic oath to support my third argument because I believe this was my strongest argument and the hippocratic oath explicitly states that a doctor should not intentionally harm a patient nor should they give a patient poison or harmful drugs; basically the exact opposite of euthanasia.

The final argument I would like to make takes into consideration the second group affected by euthanasia - the doctors/physicians who are called upon to carry out this deceitful act. Euthanasia goes against all the values/beliefs a physician stands for. As a physician enters the medical field they are required to take the Hippocratic oath. Regarded as the most popular greek medical text, the Hippocratic oath requires a new physician to swear to follow specific ethical standard. The Hippocratic oath explicitly states that a physician shall not harm a human nor shall they administer poison to anyone one : 

“With regard to healing the sick, I will devise and order for them the best diet, according to my judgment and means; and I will take care that they suffer no hurt or damage.

Nor shall any man's entreaty prevail upon me to administer poison to anyone; neither will I counsel any man to do so.” (Hippocratic oath) 

Therefore, the act of euthanasia goes completely against the Hippocratic oath. The legalizing of euthanasia will also undermine the commitment of doctors and nurses to save lives; As the physician will be less motivated to treat terminally ill patients assuming that eventually the patient will request to be euthanized. A majority of medical professionals are against the legalizing of euthanasia; nevertheless, if euthanasia is made legal the medical professional would be forced to comply with the patients request to be euthanized, thus making euthanasia “involuntary” on the physicians side.The research to develop new treatment and cures will also be “put aside” by legalizing euthanasia. 

PART 2
             Most of you would be familiar with the ALS ice bucket challenge that everyone was doing and posting on Facebook,this past summer. Therefore the subject that I would like to write about is the ALS association and it's effort. ALS association is an organization that raises money to fund research on ALS disease. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. ALS association has conducted various efforts to raise funds for research and have been able to raise $99 million until summer of 2014. However, this past summer ALS association came up with the ALS Ice bucket challenge which became viral and a huge success. Millions of people, including me, did the ALS ice bucket challenge and nominated their friends to do it within 24 hours or they have to donate $100 to ALS (this is the reason it beach viral). Many people donated $10 after doing the ALS ice bucket challenge. Hence, since June of 2014 ALS has received a donation of over $115 million, the highest they have generated to date. The ALS association believes that these donations will be extremely helpful in the research to cure ALS and will provide ALS patient with the best treatment and facilities to make their lives as comfortable as possible. I wanted to share this because I believe ALS is a bitch of a disease and it was really fascinating to me that how the ALS accusation came up with such a simple yet successful idea on how to inform the public abut ALS and an effort to raise funds to fight against ALS.  There are some links where you can find more information about ALS and the ALS association. There is also a link to an article which describes what the funds raised by the ice bucket challenge would do in the fight against ALS.

http://www.alsa.org/fight-als/ice-bucket-challenge.html

             http://www.wfmz.com/news/whats-impact-of-ice-bucket-challenge-on-als/27619180

FINAL EXPLORATION: LILYAN ELDADAH

PART ONE:

I admire Philippe Petite.

Twenty-four years old.

Eight months prior planning.

Anxiety filling his head and stomach.

This is impossible. This is impossible. This. Is. IMPOSSIBLE.

One thousand three hundred sixty three feet up.

Nothing but thin wire.

August 7, 1974.

A day to be remembered.

High Wire Artist, Philippe Petite takes on the Twin Towers.

Looking like a small speck to the hundreds of curious spectators below

Petite performs outrageous, dangerous tricks.

A quarter mile up.

       Bowing.

                        Saluting.

                                        Lying down.

                                                              J

      U

          M                                   

                P

                   I

                       N

                           G.

                                 Dancing.

Kneeling.

                                                                                                                                Applause.

How long was the irrationality going to continue?

Eight Rounds.

Forty-Five minutes later.

Insanity escapes Petite’s mind

and reality pours in.

“My intuition told me it was time for me to close the curtain of this intimate performance,"

Petite was let off with a penalty to perform to children.

Shock.

Inspiration.

Respect.

Persistence for my dreams.

I admire Philippe Petite.

I think my best writing this year was this poem about Philippe Petite. I am not a very good writer to begin with, and writing poems and artistically has always been really complicated for me. For this poem, I edited the piece two or three times and had someone else edit it for me too. I wanted to perfect the poem, because when I wrote it, I tried so hard to make it perfect and I really believe it was the best poem I ever written. I used sensory details and short/long sentences to add emphasis to the word/sentence. I really enjoyed this poem and hope you did too!

PART TWO&THREE:

 Something important that few know about is the Palestinian-Israeli War that has been going on for over 60 years now. A lot of you may have heard about this war before but many of you might not know about the background of how the war started up again. The media seems to cover so much information from the Palestinian side, so most Americans see it only through the Israelis eyes. Recently, Israelis have been capturing and torturing/killing Palestinian boys. So in defense the Palestinians captured an Israeli, to show the Israelis that they can fight back too. This outraged the Israelis so they began to bomb Palestine. I don't have anything online research or videos to give as evidence, but the reason I know this is because my mom's side of the family lives in Palestine and when they had a few hours of electricity and internet they called my mom and told her everything that was happening. While this information may be bias, just like international news is usually bias, the information is true because it is first hand evidence of what is happening. The problem is that in the international news, no one mentioned that the Israelis were the ones who began this problem because they were torching little Palestinian kids, but instead all that was mentioned was Palestinians captured an Israeli boy and were keeping him captive and Israel had a right to start bombing Palestinian borders.
This is just a little background on the story and I just wanted to portray to you that not all information given by the media is 100% true. It is usually edited and changed to reach the viewers eyes, and make them feel a certain way toward the topic. Basically, if they want you to feel good about something, even if its bad, they will change up the information so it sounds good. All I am saying, is while news is considered factual, I would advise that you research a little more about the subject and not believe every word thrown at you by the media. 

This picture screams a million different thoughts and feelings. On http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/israel-killed-1300-kids-in-gaza-un/ they stated that Israel has killed 1,300 kids Gaza. Its so scary to think that people can just kill babies and kids like the way kids are dying in this war. Since I have cousins and nieces and nephews in Gaza, Palestine its so upsetting and so frightening to think that they may be bombed and killed any second. I want peace in Palestine, not only for my mom's side of the family, but also for all the kids and teenagers that have to go through the blood and pain of losing someone at such a young age. No child should have to watch his mother die between his arms due to a shooting. No parent should have to watch their child die infront of their eyes because of a bombing. This war is a huge tragedy and has been going on for far too long.

Exploration 9: Hans Hartle

   Hey everyone, it feels like it was just yesterday that we first met and created our first blog post! As we all know, this is not the case. We have been through a lot and created several pieces of literature that we should all be proud of! I would like to post some of my best work for you all to read and hopefully comment on to give me feedback! It would be much appreciated. :)
    The first piece of writing which I wish to share with everyone is my introduction of my research of Geauga Lake and the story behind it closing.

   Click clack, click clack… click clack. The light reflects off the blur of adrenaline and steel that zips around the brim of the lake. Screams and cheers ring through the air; some of pure excitement, and others of exasperation. Pshhhhhhhh. “Welcome back riders, how was that ride?” The lady walking down the aisle cheered. “WOOOOHOOO” The passengers would join in unison. Click. The lap bar now locked me into my seat, heart pounding, eyes staring at the only obstacle between the border of fear and excitement: the lift hill. Clickity clack, click clack, the Chariot of the Gods reaches the peak, watching helplessly as the butterflies drop in my stomach, and our ride draws ever near to the earth.

Pulling into the parking lot, 12 years had passed since visiting the masterpiece called

   Geauga Lake. Where the cars had waited eagerly for their drivers to return, weeds the height of corn stock, held their space, springing out from each crevasse in the earth. We walked up to the front gate, picturing the roller coaster enthusiast sprinting to get their spot in line and return to their sanctuary. Instead of being welcomed by warm and friendly employees, now we were turned away, shunned as if we were outcast. Forbade to enter by the gloomy “private property: do not enter” sign on the chain fence. My eyes searched the horizon for some recognizable trace of the magnificent monster of an amusement park that once occupied this barren wasteland, but I found none.
   The second piece of writing which I wish to share is from my narrative/story I wrote.
    “Kaley, can you give us a second?” Kelly said, staring down at the sand she was filtering through her fingers while her bleach blond hair waved in the breeze.

“And leave you here with him? I’d rather puke!” her identical twin Kaley responded.

“What did I ever do to you?” I asked.

“Don’t listen to her; she is just jealous because you’re mine.” Kelly interrupted.

“OR, I am worried about your awful taste in guys!” Kaley chimed in.

“Do you remember Daytona?” Kelly asked. Whatever the answer was, Kaley glared at her saying I’ll get you back for that.

“Alright, I’m out. But don’t come crying to me when mom finds out you were alone with him” Kaley said.

"I thought you two never split up" I said, punching myself on the inside as I realized I was only adding fuel to the fire.

"Only for you Hans" Kaley answered. "Now don't have too much fun you two. We still have capture the flag and ghost in the graveyard tonight."

"Oh joy" I murmured.

 She smirked in my direction and sprinted up the sand dune and towards the house. As soon as Kaley left silence filled the beach. I kept trying to open my mouth, but no words would exit. Instead I stared out into the vibrant pink and orange horizon and the waves crashing into the beach splashing my toes. After a few moments had passed, Kelly muttered something under her breath.

“You know, maybe that’s why you don’t get any girls?” Kelly said.

“What?” I asked. The question had caught me off guard and was not the way I had dreamt of this conversation starting.

“You’re too shy” she said. “It’s just me.”

   Recently, a popular DJ, DJ Earworm released his new annual mash up of the top 25 most popular songs of  2014. I chose to write about him and this song in particular because of how it truly recaps the year in music as a whole in under 5 minutes. Another reason I wanted to share this with you all is because of the amount of time and consideration it would take to produce this! His ear for music allows him to create a masterpiece out of songs I would have never imagined sounding even remotely decent layered together. More importantly, I love how when listening to his music you find new sounds and hidden songs each time you hit replay.