Considering Genre

Greece Financial Crisis 

Turmoil within Greece and the European Union 

1. I decided to commit to the genre of a podcast because from experience I enjoy listening to a controversy being discussed over audio as it gives me something interesting to listen to. 

2. Some conventions of a podcasts that I plan to develop during my production phase is the audio, transitions, and music. I plan to find transitions and music that work with the topic and the mood of the topic. I also intend to research and find the proper way to record the audio of a podcast. I plan to use all these conventions to pull people into my podcast and keep them interested the entire way through.

3. I am feeling confident about Project 1 going into the production phase. I am also very excited to be able to create my own podcast along with editing. The biggest challenge I anticipate I will face is recording my voice and being satisfied with the recordings of my voice along with my tone and word choice. 

Ridgeway, Steven. "Adobe Connect Webinar and Podcast Setting" via Wikipedia Commons

Twitter and What I Found There

Twitter 

Business is always the future and forefront of society, without business the world would not run.

  Bloomberg Business (@business) 

Bloomberg Business. "Logo" 5/2/2015 via Bloomberg Business.

"The first word in business news." Bloomberg Business is a financial company and media outlet that primarily specializes in business news along with their normal news.

 The Economist (@TheEconomist) 

The Economist. "Logo" 7/18/2009 via The Economist 

"The Economist offers authoritative insight and opinion on international news, politics, business, finance, science, technology and the connections between them."

The Bloomberg Business and Economist twitter pages are full of engaging posts which range across the world of business. From politics to finance, they work to inform and promote their articles of their main sites with millions of followers. Currently, the most debated topic is government policy, which holds a direct relationship to the upcoming presidential race that is a heated topic in America. The economist. Both twitter pages are very similar and simply utilize twitter to promote their articles on their websites rather than promote discussion. 

The two most interesting stories I found within the twitter page of Bloomberg Business and The Economist included one regarding tracking suspect's locations in America on The Economist here and a write up on the guys who developed a search engine for GIFs known as Giphy here. I found these topics interesting because they are relevant to me. Rather than being about politics or fiscal policy, the Giphy article was about searching GIFs, which interested me because I spend a considerable amount of time looking at GIFs on reddit anyways. The other article regarding tracking suspects is relevant to me because peoples' rights are important to me and cyber monitoring is something I care deeply enough to even mask my ip and identity on the internet. 

The impression that I got from these twitter feeds on my discipline is that my career will be very serious and professional, something I am excited for. The people in the feeds are talking like I would expect for politics and finance, very concise, professional, and to better themselves. 

Cluster of Stakeholders

Greece Financial Bailout and Crisis 

m01229. "Thinking Man - Yale Museum" 4/13/2014 via flickr.

Within my cluster, I created all the parties that are involved with the Greek Financial Crisis. Some parties have a large involvement so they have much more information and size while others that only play a small role, have a smaller bubble and less information. The two main aspects of the crisis are the European Union and Greece where the bubbles are shown as larger than the rest and have more branches than the others as well. 

The Greek Financial Crisis diagram can be found HERE. 

Evaluation of General Sources

Financial Assistance to Greece 

Economic bailouts to Greece since 2010 from the Euro states and the IMF. 

Geralt, "Financial Crisis" 11/26/2014. via pixabay

European Commission Economic and Financial Affairs

The URL of this source is a ".eu".This means that it is a government website that is controlled by the European Union. This is a credible source because the EU was a direct party involved in the controversy. 

The page was last updated January 6th, 2016. This means that the article is completely up to date and all the links are in working condition.

The purpose of this site is trying to explain the current state of Greece after the financial assistance, inform citizens why money was given to Greece, then provide evidence that the money was necessary and impactful.

There are no graphics on the page but many documents included for someone to review.

The position taken by the EU is that their efforts were necessary and did indeed work in rebuilding the economy of Greece.

The source provided many links to the government documents that were apart of the financial crisis and all the documentation during the government process.

"With Details Settled, a 2nd Greek Bailout Is Formally Approved" -NY Times
The URL of this source is a ".com". This means that source has the chance of not being credible. However, in the manner that I would be using it, I can claim that it is the reporting of the news during the relevant period from a credit news company.
The page was last updated on the date of publishing, March 2012, but this is not relevant since it occurred during the event. The New York Times takes a relatively neutral side, simply stating what occurred
and then giving positions of both sides. 

Reddit and What I Found There

The Front Page of the Internet 

Blue, Eva. "Reddit Sticker" 10/22/2010 via flickr. 

Entrepreneur Subreddit

People within the entrepreneur subreddit commonly seem to be discussing entrepreneurship as a whole and how to go about creating a new company or building upon a company that an individual has already established. This subreddit is an extremely helpful community full of advice and guides to becoming a successful entrepreneur and creating your own working company. Some things I see range from advice on how to step away when you are frustrating to step by step guides for starting a company.

The two most interesting discussions that I found in the entrepreneur subreddit is how people relax when their own company is stressing them out, which can be found here and "How to Wake up at 5AM and Build Your Startup". I found these threads interesting because while reading through the comments, I learned that everyone is unique. The first comment is discussion how some people go to the gym or do their hobbies while others use alcohol and pot to calm down and relieve stress after managing their business. It was also interesting how many people that commented say that they turn to marijuana or alcohol and simply enjoy themselves. Additionally it was comforting to see someone took the time to assist others like in the guide to building a startup. 

Overall, I am very satisfied with this subreddit and aiding my in my discipline. One of the things I saw happening that makes Reddit unique is the contribution that the community makes on every posts. Through this collaboration and commenting, users are enriched by others and create lively discussion. People talk in a very casual setting as if I have known them on a personal level for quite some time, which makes it relaxed and easy to share ideas. Another important thing is that contributors are likely more experienced than me and possibly work in the same discipline that I am studying. 

Business Subreddit 

The business subreddit is more semiformal theme and relaying news more than most subreddits. People here are discussion news events across the world that relate to business and giving interesting input as to what they would have liked to see or the impacts that each issue makes within the world.

In my opinion, the most two interesting discussions are "Boeing 737 MAX maiden flight a success" and "Project Skybender: Google's secretive 5G internet drone tests revealed". These discussions are interesting to me because they reflect my interests in the business field by relating with new technology. Additionally, the comment threads are full of discussion that are both casual and informative. For example, /u/StockTrendsBot broke down the financials of the plane and the cost development of it. Then on the other hand, /u/Gnutella01 made a quirky joke about how Bruce Dickinson probably flew it.

Overall, the business subreddit is amazingly helpful to my discipline. The business subreddit is a place to find informative articles and news relating to business. Through reading this subreddit I can become seasoned in multiple different topics because business relates to everything. In the business forums people were talking about what I expected and more because often times rants go off to inside jokes and deep discussions about Star Wars, which is interesting to read. 

Evaluation of News Magazine Stories

Top News Magazines

Magazines play an important role in society through both entertainment and information. 

Kdavis25. "Magazines" 02/15/15 via pixabay

Chase ATMs Will Now Let You Withdraw Cash With a Phone

Chase is introducing new capabilities in the future that will allow phones with NFC capabilities like the iPhone to be able to withdraw money by only using their phone. Currently, Chase is releasing the ability to enter a code into the ATM from your phone to withdraw money rather than having to use your existing debit card.

The main debate in the argument is whether or not Chase is taking a step in the right direction by announcing the future arrival of NFC capable ATMs. People are concerned of the security that a system like this has to offer if their phone was stolen or hacked into by a third party somehow and then access to their money is given to someone else. 

The most sympathetic character in this story is those who have been hurt by theft and their bank accounts hacked into already. They evoke sympathy because often this means they lose a large part of their money or spend months, even years, fighting to get their money back. From their perspective, if the bank can not keep them safe as is, how can they keep new technologies such as from landing in the wrong hands.

The least sympathetic character in the story is Chase Bank, whom is attempting to implement this new ATM technology across the country. The reason for them being the least sympathetic is because they are a large bank and only have interests in profits and gaining new clients with money from this improvement. 

Walmart's Outdated Management Style is Failing Customers

The debate being made in this story is that the main problem of the Walmart line of stores is the poor management training and the managerial system that Walmart follows. The article states that Walmart is full of corruption of power on nearly every level, which in turn, hurts all the employees and the functions of the story as they are forced to "guess" how to do their job. One argument presented is that Walmart needs a new rebranding starting at the board and CEO nationally.

The most sympathetic character in this story is the employees of Walmart who are knowingly paid little money for their jobs and expected to live off of minimum wage. Additionally, these employees are provided little to no training on how to do their job, leaving them with no way to move up the employee chain due to the fact they do not understand the business itself. They evoke feelings of sympathy because they are hardworking people just like my family and myself in the future after college.

The least sympathetic character in the story is the Walmart organization along with their board of directors and their CEO. They oversee the operations of Walmart on a global level and make up the culture of the company. They are not easy to sympathize with because they make millions of dollars and barely lift a finger. They are can not be sympathized with because they have no interests in the well-being of their workers rather than making them money.

Evaluation of New York Times Stories

THE New York Times

"All the News That's Fit to Print"

Stocker, Paul. "Untitled" via Flickr 

Uber monitoring driver in US in attempt to flag dangerous driving

The main characters involved with this New York Times article regarding Uber driving is Uber, a ridesharing company, and select Uber drivers that are being monitored in the state of Texas. 

Uber and the drivers are at the center of the story because the company, Uber, is conducting an experiment where they track the moves of these drivers in order to create a safer environment and protect the drivers as well.

Specific events within the story include the small test that Uber conducted by monitoring a minor amount of Texas drivers. Another specific event that occurs within the article is a class-action lawsuit filed by drivers in San Francisco to be recognized as full employees with benefits. These tests are designed to identify poor Uber drivers and then with this experimental results, Uber hopes to implement this monitoring process across the country to cut accidents and risks when ridesharing.

The debate occurring is whether it is just that Uber is tracking the driving of the Uber drivers and if the monitoring can be grounds for termination as an Uber contracted employee. Another side of the debate is that the monitoring can be utilized to protect Uber drivers when a false claim is made regarding their driving.

New Weapon to Fight Zika; The Mosquito

The main characters involved with this article are the population of Brazil near the Zika outbreak, scientists working to fight the virus, and mosquitoes which have been genetically engineered to kill the virus with a gene that kills Zika. These mosquitoes are the center of the story because if done correctly, they could be the key to extinction of the Zika Virus, which is negatively impacting childbirths through the region. 

Specific events that are relevant to the story are the release of these modified mosquitoes to towns throughout Brazil every weekday at 7 AM. Another major event was the creation of these mosquitoes by the British company, Oxitec to aid in eradicating this deadly virus. These events work towards the plot because without the work of scientists to create these extraordinary mosquitoes, this plan of action would never be possible.

The disagreement happening in the story is the debate over the impact of releasing genetically modified insects into the environment and the long term effects of these mosquitoes. The health of the environment in South America is at stake but for the scientist and first world countries, the possibility of the virus spreading also is a major fear. 

Course Projects

What are you most confused by or nervous about in regards to the four major projects?

I am most nervous about the workload presented by the four major projects. Another thing that I am nervous about for the four major projects is the time management and planning that will need to go into each of the four projects. If my time is not properly managed then I can fall behind on the projects easily and in turn ruin my grade in the class.

What are you most interested in or excited by in regards to the four major projects?

        Coffman, Drew. "Lightbulb Rainbow" via Flickr 

I am most excited by the fact that we will use a different genre for every project. This means that I will have the opportunity to do a completely different project each time whether it be a video essay, podcast, quick reference guide, or standard essay. I'm also excited how the projects can relate to my field of study, creating an overall more interesting experience for me when doing my project. 

Additionally, I am most excited for the topics of the four projects. The course final project is very exciting to me because it is a self-reflection of the semester and of myself as a person. It is going to be very interesting to reflect on how my semester went and how all the planning came to fruition throughout the semester. 

Based on your understanding of the major projects, what are the elements of this course that you have to plan ahead for? How will the coursework described in the four project assignment sheets challenge your time management skills this semester?

The main elements of this course that I will have to plan ahead for are the major projects as well as the blog posts. With such a large workload, it can be very easy to get behind in your work and lose track of the time that things need to be completed by. Also every genre has to be planned for such as the equipment needed, the preparation for each project, and the physical time needed for both research and creating each genre. The coursework described in the four project assignment sheets will challenge my time management skills because they also require a lot of planning before the fact and if you do not set aside time for each project beforehand you could be stuck waiting for equipment or left without enough time to complete the full workload of the projects.

How has your past English coursework in high school or college prepared you for the challenges of this course? What skills will you bring into the course with you?

My past English coursework in high school has prepared me greatly for the challenges of this course. First and foremost, AP Language and AP Literature both required tasking writing assignments with a great amount of analysis and discussion, Through these classes I was able to thrive as a writer and improve on the talents that I already have. Additionally, both courses taught how to research properly and record the research that you take. I am confident that both courses have prepared me greatly for this course and leave me with important writing, critical thinking, and researching skills that are important in any workplace.

Do you have any questions about the four major projects that haven't been answered by the assignment sheets? What do you still want to know?

I do not appear to have many questions that have not been answered by the assignment sheets. The only inquiry that I may have regards the creative freedom that is given and exactly how the projects will be graded regarding professionalism and content.

Reflection

After reading my classmates posts and their feelings I learned and realized a great amount. The first and most important thing that I learned was that I am not alone or bizarre for having feelings of nervousness and doubt when looking over all four projects and the workload that we will have throughout the semester. I also realized that I have close to the same educational background as the other students in my class, a realization that aided in putting my nerves at ease as I look towards the future of the class and wonder about my success within the course. In all I am excited about the course and feel confident about my writing process this semester. 

I commented on the Course Projects pages of Jason Boley and Malik Bullock.

Investigating Genres

Podcasts

Marquardt, Peter. "Podcast logo" 4/3/2006 via
lemotox.

What purpose does this genre usually serve?

Podcasts provide the entertainment and information of radio but available at anytime to the consumer and can cater to different audiences. Podcasts are available online usually by streaming or downloading the audio file. Podcasts allow users to find specific topics that tailor to their interests.

Where, how, or in what context do readers usually find this genre?

Listeners find podcasts on the internet in the form of a audio file that is either streamed from the internet or downloaded to listen to later on a computer or multiple mobile devices. Podcasts can also be found on applications such as iTunes.

Who is the typical audience for this genre?

The typical audience for podcasts vary depending on the content. Podcasts are unique in the fact that the content finds the audience different to how radio broadcasts and people have to wait for the program that they prefer. Usually podcasts are listened to by a younger audience who are more familiar with technology and the internet therefore podcasts usually contain topics that relate to a younger population rather than seniors.

What are some of the key features or characteristics that are unique to this genre, distinguishing it from other texts?

Some key features and characteristics that are unique to this genre is the distribution of podcasts and the manner that they are consumed. Podcasts are usually free and downloaded from the internet. This is different than what used to be the norm like radio and television. Podcasts are available whenever and wherever the user wants. Podcasts are also unique from other genres in the fact that they can be a person speaking independently or a group of people discussing topics together for a more lively open discussion. Finally, podcasts are unique in the fact that

Based on your answers to the questions above, come up with a definition in your own words of this genre.

Podcasts are audio shows and news that are available on demand and anywhere bringing vibrant discussion and entertainment to users.

Reflection

Overall I have learned a great amount of information from reading other classmates posts and discussion regarding different genres. From reading what they had to say of other genres I was able to learn more about what those genres are. Video essay genres are similar to podcasts but I was able to learn what separates the two. Reading other posts made me think about how everyone favors a different genre whether it be video, text, audio, or a combination of the three. Also from writing this blog I gained an interest in podcasts and even plan to listen to many more podcasts in the future.

I commented on the blogs of Ryan Wolfe and Ben Macklin

MY Writing Process

Stowe, Rennett. "Tapping a Pencil" 10/30/2008 via Flickr. Public Domain

1. What type of writer do you consider yourself to be?

As terrible as it may sound and unpleasant to hear to many honors students, I consider myself to be within the category of procrastinators when it comes to writing. This type of writing, although looked down upon, can be very effective and beneficial for those who thrive in such a scenario. I consider myself to be a procrastinating writer because I usually sit down and write an entire paper in that one sitting rather than spacing out my writing, a tactic that I feel benefits me greatly.

2. Does your writing process include several of the above approaches? If so, which ones?

My writing includes parts of each of the above approaches to a lesser degree. The one that has the biggest presence in my writing process is heavy planners. Although I stated that my main type of writing is procrastination, I utilize heavy planning before I begin the actual writing so when I get to writing I can breeze through the entire paper in one sitting rather than spacing out my writing time of a week or so. To me, heavy planning almost acts as a form of procrastination because to procrastinate the actual writing, I focus on heavy planning and deciding what I am going to write about and say in my paper.

3. Does your writing process seem to be successful? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your approach?

This writing process seems to be very successful to me. I see it as a strength first and foremost rather than a weakness as many perceive. A strength of procrastination is that usually it brings more stress to me or whomever is writing a paper. Stress is amazing when writing a paper or grinding homework because stress is not bad. Stress is one of the best motivators and my body reacts to stress by increasing productivity and it provides the needed drive to write a quality paper in a short amount of time. Some weaknesses of procrastinating is the fact that usually you are under the pressure of time, which can lead to minor mistakes in conventions if not careful. Another disadvantage of procrastination writing style is that it can be much more difficult to stay organized and focused in the writing if proper care and attention to detail is not taken before writing has begun.

4. Do you think it might be beneficial for you to try a different approach? Why or why not?

Yes, I do think that it may be beneficial for me to try a different writing approach. Rather than abandon my previous writing approach that has worked time and time again, I would adopt a new writing approach and change the way I "procrastinate". The one approach I would like to add to my writing process would be heavy revisers. I feel that heavy revising of my papers rather than the usual revising that occurs on my papers could be very beneficial to my works due to the fact that I will find many things that can be changed in order to better the work as a whole. Another approach that may be beneficial to try is sequential composers because then rather than procrastinating I can focus on the work as a whole such as the planning, drafting, and revising to make a complete work with little to no errors and proper organization of ideas.