Homophones Video Project

Note: I did not use the guitar sound effect because I didn't think it would sound good with all the other sound effects playing. I also couldn't figure out how to add bees but I think the video is fine without them.

Evaluating Internet Sources

Are The Sources Credible?

 

 Part One: 

   My Impressions: The topic I decided to explore was makeup. Or, to be more precise, if makeup is bad for the skin. The first result was a photo gallery which was irritating and I immediately disregarded. Luckily the second option was a formed like a proper website with, most importantly, a paragraph that expressed or informed certain views. It is by no means the perfect site. It had a lot of advertisements at the bottom of the paragraph, including a 35 second video which didn't really fit in with the title (How Does Makeup Affect Your Skin) as it just showed a makeup artist explaining how he was making a woman look younger. It had some interesting points like the fact that some women have allergic reactions from minor skin irritation to actual blisters.

  Gather Information:

• The authors name is below the article's title making it easy to find and clearly states who wrote it. However, when searching for the author's credentials, it became clear that she was not a professional and was most likely stating or re-posting facts from other, more credible sources without going too deep into the subject. The information on this site was not appropriate for the purpose of this page (.com).
• The information on this site wasn't necessarily biased. It seemed to be on the neutral side as it stated minor discrepancies and how to fix them without pointing out how poorly regulated makeup production generally is. The purpose of this site was probably to sell.
• This site is backed up with a lot of advertisement on makeup, especially the cheap kind which almost undoubtedly influenced the content of the site.
•  The site has some very good references that go into deeper detail and seem more inclined to educate it's reader. However there were two other references which were not as informative but was still more educational than the actual site that referenced them.
• The site has not been updated recently. Not since August 20, 2009.
•  The links are not relevant or appropriate to the topic.

Summary:While I have bashed this website considerably, I did learn new terminology as well as their definitions like "products that are labeled hypoallergenic (they're less likely to cause allergic reactions), noncomedogenic (they won't block pores) and nonacnegenic (they won't cause acne)". (Siddons, "How Does Makeup Affect Your Skin?") These terms are quite helpful to know since many products tend to have such words printed all over them. It is important to note that, according to HowStuffWorks.com, those terms aren't necessarily regulated by the U.S Food and Drug Administration. A disturbing fact to say the least.

Part Two:

  Article Name: "Cosmetics, diet, and the future"

This article provide an outstanding overload of information! It was far more impressive and informative on the progress of makeup products and how it can affect the human skin. It had a considerable amount of citations, referenced ten sources, and (of course) had no adds that cluttered the screen. As opposed to the previous article with an author who lacked credibility, Zoe Diana Draelos comes from the Department of Dermatology, Duke University of Medicine. Her style of writing was far more formal instead of conversational, and she had a lot more to say on the subject. Six pages to be exact.

One of the sources the essay refereed to:

Chen JH, Hales CN, Ozanne SE. DNA damage, cellular sen-excence and organismal ageing: causal or correlative? Nucleic Acids Res 2007: 35 : 7417–7428.

Sources:

-Siddons, Sarah.  "How does makeup affect your skin?"  20 August 2009.  HowStuffWorks.com. <http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/beauty/skin-and-makeup/makeup-affect-your-skin.htm>
 11 October 2015.

- Draelos, Zoe Diana. "Cosmetics, Diet, And The Future." Dermatologic Therapy 25.3 (2012): 267-272. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.

Evaluating Internet Sources

Evaluating Internet Sources

Part 1:

The URL for the site I explored: http://teachforall.org/en/network-learning/importance-trust

After skimming over this article, I noticed that it was based almost entirely on the author's personal experience and did not include any scholarly sources. Judging by the source, the site seems more of like a fun article site rather than a serious database filled to the brim with facts. The article was filled with plenty of evidence to support the author's points, but of course all of that was personal experience and therefore the article seems questionable to me.

 I liked a few of the points though, particularly the main one which reads, "Building trust is a process. And it's not just about trust between teachers and students, but between teachers and other teachers, and support staff too. The end goal is the moment we can collectively have honest dialogue about our students, our practices and our impact." (Brown, "The Importance of Trust").

Judging the website by the general criteria guidelines:

• The site explains what the organization is quite clearly, it is called TeachForAll. This organization specializes in essays and facts about academics, but does not specialize in the specific issue of trust. The information on the site is acceptable for this essay, as the essay is mainly about how trust can apply in schools.
• The purpose of this essay is to persuade, and yes, the information is quite biased since it only focuses on the opinions of the author and their small community.
• There is a very small amount of advertising and it does not get in the way of the content, nor does it enhance it much.
• The site itself seems to claim that research is done through the sharing of many different viewpoints through many different regions. However, reading this article only supplies you with a small community's opinion, and not facts. Therefore, the accuracy of the content is probably low.

Part 2:

Article name: Organizational socialization tactics and newcomer adjustment: The mediating role of role clarity and affect-based trust relationships.

Wow! After looking through this journal article, I must say I'm quite impressed. There were a few strong points stated in the beginning and then authors went to town, dissecting each of those points down to their nervous systems! There were tons of in-text citations and a references list that spanned over 6 pages! While the authors did not appeal to emotion that often, the facts were well written and made an impression, not in a forceful way but in an elegant way.

Although the topic was basically the same and so were the main points between these two works, the authors of the journal article were much more informed and delivered their points formally. Especially the main point near the beginning, which reads, "More specifically, we propose that institutionalized tactics lead to adjustment through building trustful relationships with supervisors and co-workers." (Lapointe, Vandenberghe, Boudrias, 2014). Not only were there actual sources (More than one hundred!), the points made took many different organizations and scholarly works into consideration. The previous article did appeal slightly more to emotion than the new article, but overall the new article is much more impressive and is basically a direct upgrade, even if it is a long read.

One of the sources the article used a lot: Journal of Applied Psychology

Works Cited:

- Brown, Lakimbre, Dr. "The Importance of Trust." TeachForAll. TeachForAll, 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 

     12 Oct. 2015.

- Lapointe, Émilie, Christian Vandenberghe, and Jean-Sébastien Boudrias. "Organizational                      Socialization Tactics And Newcomer Adjustment: The Mediating Role Of Role Clarity And                Affect-        Based Trust Relationships." Journal Of Occupational & Organizational Psychology          87.3 (2014): 599-     624. Academic Search Premier. Web. Boulder CO. 12 Oct. 2015.

Class Blog Review 2-Technogorge

Class Blog Review 2-Technogorge

I just had a chance to look over Technogorge, a rather interesting blog created by Chris and Nathaly. When I initially looked through their blog, I noticed that the layout was very neat, containing nice little tabs linking recent posts and archives. However, I noticed that the design was a little dry. The only real thing to catch my eye was the title. I think this was made up for by the organization of the posts contents and the content of the posts themselves. None of the posts seemed to have bad grammar or lack of detail, and they were organized into little sections that could be expanded if the viewer wished to read more.

I like how the blog has a humorous touch to it right off the bat. "Wasting time in the 21st century" definitely gives the blog a laid-back and casual vibe which I can really resonate with. However, there isn't many humorous eye catchers after that. There are not very many pictures portrayed on the main blog, either because they're hidden in the "read more" section or simply aren't there. The pictures that are there didn't give me much of a reaction, either. I definitely did like the big white text titling their posts and the name of their blog, though! 

Overall, I would give this blogging team a 'A-' in the blog quality criteria. While the flaws in their blog (lack of exciting and humorous visuals and background) are glaring, everything else is executed well (organization, content, name, properly colored and sized text, etc.). They definitely keep producing high quality work in their posts and make it easily accessible, which is really important. I felt the experience was worthwhile and I am glad I chose this group's blog to review.

Picture taken from www. quickmeme.com

Chapter 14 Blog Review Sabastian

Chapter 14 Blog Review Sabastian

Wow! Quite the meaty chapter this week! I don't even feel like I learned all that much. While it was nice to see so many examples of strengthening an argumentative essay, I didn't feel like the chapter didn't need to go on so long. There were so many essays and I feel like after a while, they started to lose their touch (Like eating too many cookies and feeling like puking). Nevertheless, I did learn some fun stuff in this chapter. I liked looking at the list of common writing mistakes in particular because not only did it help me realize my weak points, it also resonated with me because it seems like most essays I read have at least one of those glaring flaws in them. My favorite of them was definitely the false dilemma, because most essays that I read often focus on arguing the two main extremes of an argument without considering the neutral arguments. I think essays do this in an attempt to pull the reader in with drama, but to me it just seems obnoxious. 

In the little bit of content of the chapter that wasn't essays, I also learned some other useful information. Particularly, logical structuring information and audience appeal information. I was reminded of pathos, logos and ethos as well as their optimal applications in writing. Since argumentative essays often use logic and facts, they mainly use logos. Since they're based so much on logic, it was helpful to see practical essay structures such as Toulmin Logic and the most effective ways to add in information to the essay.

All in all, the chapter seemed like a little too much of a brain dump but there was still effective content about 1/2 of the way through.

"It" being my brain 

Image from: memegenrator.net

Chapter 14 Review: Argumentation

This was definitely another long chapter, but reasonably so as it was packed with information especially with it's long list of 'new' vocabulary which was bolded throughout the chapter in order to grab one's attention, which I found very helpful and informative. Like the last chapter, the end of the chapter is packed with essays in order to provide numerous examples which really helps if the reader needs to bounce their new found knowledge off actual argumentation essays.

Some of the many important lessons explained by this chapter was the difference between persuasion and argumentation as well as the various kind of appeals one would use if they were trying to persuade someone. So while persuasion typically uses three kinds of appeals (pathos, ethos, and logos) argumentation is meant to only appeal to reason (logos).

Image from https://whimsicalwonderwall.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/morallogic/

Class Blog Reveiw 2

DISCUSS:
I think this part is covered by the review.

PLAN:
It's clear now that ALL posts need to have a picture included, which I will immediately correct after I finish this post. At least all of my posts, as they are mine to change. 


WRITE:
Today I had a look at my fellow students blogs, particularly 'Five Brains are Better Than One'.  Overall, they did an excellent job but, in order to write a three paragraph essay, I must point out some of their few faults. To be honest it's not so much corrections but more like suggestions so hopefully I'm not stepping on any toes. One possible suggestion would be make the red background behind the text black so there might be more contrast in the blog's overall look. The red patterned background on the sides really pleasing to the eye and I think the contrast would help it stand out more, making the blog itself more eye-catching and presentable to possible readers. However, this does not mean the blog doesn't look good already. It's dark red look makes it stand out but not overwhelming making it fairly tasteful and pleasing to the eye. But the black background could help it stand out more.

Another thought is that I really like their description, "We want to portray what goes on in five very different minds meeting randomly at English Composition 121 at Front Range Community College." and I think they could play a lot more with that theme that they so far have. They should try quoting each other, make it clear that they are paying attention to one anther's thoughts and then explain in their own posts why or if they agree/disagree with their fellow peers. This would make it feel a lot more interactive and provide an interesting journey for everyone to follow.

At last I give my final thought: effort has been clearly given to this blog to make it presentable and pleasing to the eye. If I were to grade this according to the blog quality criteria, I would give them a definite 'A'. The font they chose is easy to discern and the color white makes it stand out against it's background. They are very good at persistently posting pictures onto each of their blogs and the writing is clear and concise with a valuable touch of humor here and there. It was an enjoyable, as well as informative, read.


 -Emily Sefcik

Image from www.flickr.com



 

Video Project Script

Characters:

• Narrator
• two people
• (More if it happens)

Subject: Homophones.

• Band/Banned -props) Guitars, piano
• Be/Bee -props) sound effects of buzzing
• Bored/board -Props) board game-chess
• Fire at will! -props) air soft gun, sound effect of gun shots, helmets
• sense/ cents
• Profit/Prophet -props) white sheet

Thought for video: shall we make only the narrator do the talking and everyone else is silent? I'm going to go with that thought for now but if you want to change it you are more then welcome :) Any changes should be marked in some way so it is easy to spot.

Sabastian Comments: I think we should have everyone else do a little bit of talking but keep the narrator as the main focus.

Beginning of video: Definition of homophones is described through star wars-like texts. *15-30   seconds*

Narrator Guy: Once upon a time. In the era of endless, stupid, soul sucking cat videos. (three/two people on the screen watching cat videos/pics) Not one person knew what a homophone was. Probably because they were too busy watching a cat fall off the table again. Oh dear we are really in for some stupid (beeep) aren't we? (three people look up curiously as though they heard the narrator then shrug it off going back to their cat stuff) *15-20 seconds*

Narrator Guy (annoyed): Okay, just stop it people, stop it right now! (computer pops out of existence. people looked at where it used to be, shocked, then look up at the sky, fearful) It's time you learned the importance of homophones. (people start to fervently shake their head no. then instruments and  different  background (my garage) pop into existence) Let's say, for instance, that you are in a band. (people play a chord, then nod at each other excitedly) But what happens when you are a banned band? (sound effects of knocking and sirens play and people play two strings making the sound 'uh oh')  *15-20 seconds*

Narrator Guy: (people pop into a park background, no longer holding instruments) How about the word "be". One means to exist (people puff out their chest, hands on hips, and stand in proud, superhero pose) the other means an swarm of insects that aren't too happy with you standing under their hive. (people look up in alarm, and then start trying to swat away the attacking bees) *15-20 seconds*

Narrator Guy: (people get popped back to their original background, the living room. they continue to swat the air in panic, but then realize there are no more bees) Isn't this fun? (people look up, incredulous.) What? You guys aren't bored are you? (people sulk a little, one person raises his hand to suggest something.) No cat videos!!! (person puts their hand back down) I know what about a board game? (Board game pops before them) Yes, board games are far more mentally engaging (Narrator sounds self satisfied). Okay, enough of that. (board game pops out of existence. People look at the camera, with comically worried expressions, and pop out of existence then back into the park with soldier gear on.)  *20 seconds*

Narrator Guy: Let me give you another reason why homophones are so easy to misunderstand. (Officer off screen shouts "Fire at will!". the sound of guns clicking into to gear aim at one of the guys, who throws up his arms, starts to panic, and the guns start to fire) *15-20 seconds*

Narrator Guy: (pops them back into the living room. Person, Will, holds his chest like he's been shot but then realizes he's fine.) Ahhhh today turned out to be much more eventful then I thought. (people look wary and seem to prepare for something else to happen.) So does everyone understand what a homophone is? (people frantically nod their heads) Great! Now go out into the world and share your knowledge with the people! Become their next great prophet! (people start to relax and stand more casually) And if your clever, maybe you can make a good profit out of them. (people look up at the Narrator, aghast.) What? *15-20 seconds*

Credits play: *10 seconds*

(person timidly reaches toward their laptop) Narrator: No cat videos!!!! *5 seconds*

Estimated total: 3 minutes   

Sabastian Comments: I love this script! Very creative and fun..