Ethos, to me...

In my Comp. II class, we have spent a lot of time attempting to define ethos. Throughout high-school, I typically equated ethos with the kind of person an author was or the morality of their argument. In this class, we have even said that an author could have bad ethos under certain circumstances, for instance, if they use bad grammar or don't give any credible information to back up their arguments. Nedra Reynolds, in her article "Ethos As Location", explains how ethos encompasses all of that and much more. She argues that ethos is an author's, person's, or group's background, actions, personal stance, and even they're location. Location, meaning the literal geographical form, and also their location within society. So basically, my definition of ethos is who you are, where you came from, where you're headed, and how you are getting there.
With that in mind, the papers that I have written this year, seem to have not only created an ethos for myself, but have reflected the ethos that I already had, to my readers. For instance, in my other blog posts, it is made evident that I am a college student, that I am young enough to have just voted for the first time this year, and that I am appreciative of technology, but still not a master of my technological devices. This is just ba reflection of the ethos that i previously had. I worked really hard on each of the papers or writing assignments we've done this semester, because I wanted my papers to reflect a good sense of ethos. I feel that some of my papers, such as "Upgrade to Discontent", were decent papers, but they didn't do the greatest job of creating a good ethos for myself. In those papers I didn't allow myself time to reference and give the attention due to each of my sources, and sometimes I failed to get my point across in an organized manner. But I feel that my papers and referencing skills have grown over the semester.
Writing in my opinion is a stressful activity. Even blogging is difficult for me because I am always trying to rack my brains for a better way to say what's on my mind and nearly always at a loss for words. I usually always have to go to the library to type up my papers or blog assignments, and if you've never spent a lot of time in the library, it is a boring, lifeless, ice cube, so that probably isn't very conducive to good writing. Sitting here, my shoulders tensed and back hunched, achy eyes glued to the screen, I have written each of the essays or arguments assigned this semester. It's not been easy, but I have grown as a writer. Maybe if I find a more relaxing way or place to type my papers I will be able to write better papers and spend more time creating a good reflection of my ethos through my writing.

Resources:

Consumerist Puppets

So, just a short post for now, but I just wanted to talk about this video called The Good Consumer. It is a satirical argument against the consumerism that seems to be taking over the U.S. and probably many other places in the world. Much of this video's argument is shown through simple color contrasts and very robotic narrations that seem to be brainwashing the characters in the video.
The black and white colors displayed on the people/consumers, is a direct contrast to the objects and goods they are consuming. I think this is trying to say that people feel like they are dull or boring unless they consume these bright, colorful goods. It is also juxtaposing this idea with the impression of consumers being robotic, and just doing what they are told. The narration, instructing the characters in the video on how to be a "good consumer", does a very fine job of making these consumers seem nothing more than ignorant, materialistic, little puppets.
So is consumerism as bad as it seems in this video? Is it as big of a problem as the author of The Good Consumer seems to think? I'm going to start thinking about my life, and how bad of shape I am in, materialistically speaking... I do not want to be a puppet!

Technology... Good or Bad?

Technology is a huge part of many people's everyday lives. I personally, am not very technologically inclined, but I can't imagine trying to do certain things without the use of a computer or the internet. In my English Comp II class, the focal point of most of our discussions and assignments has been technology: the use of it, the effects of its use, and the pro's and con's of each. We have watched and read many arguments over this topic, with both positive and negative perceptions of technology and its ever-growing use. I find legitimate reasoning from both sides of this argument, but technology has such a great effect on my life that I would much rather deal with all of its downfalls than lose even a little bit of the beneficial aspects of having technology within reach when I need it.   

Newly Registerd Voter

This year, as you know, there was a primary election, and I (now nineteen) was so excited this year because I was finally old enough to vote. I voted at St. Thomas More, a catholic church on Jenkins. I had expected the voting process to be long and excruciating but it turned out to be very simple and easy. All I had to do was sign my signature next to my name on the list of registered voters and then grab a ballot and vote, and on my way out the door grab a sticker and a chocolate. I had expected voting to take hours, but really it took about five minutes. I was nervous at first though, because the lady charged with keeping track of the registered voters list couldn’t find my name. After I searched through the list for my name a couple of times though, we finally found it.

Game-Day Technology

So the OU vs. TCU game was yesterday. I know that a football game may not seem related to the topic of technology but in a weird way, the game showed me how deeply technology is really embedded into our society these days.

"Digital Nation"

Lately there has been much argument over whether the increased use of technology is detrimental to societies' creativity and general intelligence. Curiosity has lead to studies conducted on people who multitask, using various forms of technology simultaneously and studies over the general effects of the many types of technologies being utilized today.PBS made a documentary, titled "Digital Nation" about these studies that showed the everyday use of technologies such as email, cell phones and Facebook in a very negative light. The documentary showed interviews of a few MIT students who believed that their constant use of multiple technologies whether it be checking Facebook, reading texts on cell phones, or watching videos on YouTube did not effect them in any negative way. However, anybody that has ever tried to check Facebook or text during a class, knows that these kids are a little full of it... You don't really have a clue what Mr. Gibson said about translating quadratics five minutes ago because your friend Jessica posted a hilarious status right in the middle of his lesson, and then your BFF Terrin texted you wanting to hang out at lunch, then you replied to an email from your chem lab teacher, and on and on it goes... Of course there are many viewpoints on the matter but one comment left on the site caught my attention. One man believes that old people (himself included) should not get so worked up because of the new generations' technologies and habits that are so different from the ones people used to have. He views the inclining use of technology as neither bad nor something to be left unchecked. I would agree that the constant distraction of technologies can be a bad thing and people should definitely learn to prioritize class over things like Facebook and Twitter, but that it is still not a tool to be ignored. To get a better understanding of the documentary,  click here .

My Tab

-->

About a year ago, my grandpa gave me a Galaxy Tablet Android as a birthday/early graduation gift. At first I was reluctant to use it because of my lack of skill and understanding when it comes to technology, but after a month or so I became really comfortable with using the device for many different things such as socializing on Facebook, reading news articles, browsing YouTube, doing homework, and just entertaining myself. Once I got used to my tablet, my eyes were opened to the world of options and abilities that this adorable little device made possible.