Journal #10: Coming Full Circle

At the beginning of the semester, for your first journal post, I asked you to describe your relationship with writing. Please take a look at what you wrote at the beginning of the semester, and evaluate your relationship with writing now. Have any of your thoughts about writing changed, stayed the same? Please explain. Do you consider yourself a writer now? Why or why not?

Journal #9: The Future of Composing

What do you think the future of academic composing will look like? Will academic composing remain restricted to print, or will it move to online, digital spaces? Do you think digital composing via blogs, websites, videos, podcasts, etc. is as valued in academia as printed, MLA or APA formatted essays? Why or why not?

Journal #8: Exploring Difference

After reading "Glee and Social Change" by Alyssa Davis, try to recall an experience like Davis's when a TV show, movie, or real life interaction changed the way you think about some other individual, group, or social issue? What do you think was responsible for the change? Please explain.

Journal #7: Borderlands

After reading "Our Wall" by Charles Bowden, describe what the wall signifies for the people on the Mexican side of Naco versus what it signifies for people on the US side. How effective do you think it is to separate people by walls (for example, the Berlin Wall, the Israeli/Palestine Wall, the US/Mexico Wall)? Please explain your answer.

Journal #6: Some Thoughts on Technology

In her article, "Digital Demands: The Challenges of Constant Connectivity," Sherry Turkle argues that continual connectivity to technological devices has ruined peoples' abilities to "think complicated things," be still, and experience solitude. After reading Turkle's article, do you agree or disagree with her claims? Please explain your answer.

Journal #5: Evaluating Advertisements

The two advertisements featured above both feature the same product (body wash); however, each one employs a different strategy to appeal to audiences and sell the product. What are the differences between the two approaches? Which advertisement do you think is more effective? Why?

Journal #4: Examining Beauty Through Media

Can advertising campaigns, like the Dove "Real Beauty" campaign featured above, alter the image of physical beauty in America? Do you think the Dove ad debunks the stereotypes of what physical beauty should look like for Americans? Is the definition of beauty changing in America? Please explain.