EID Chapter 15

America, in many ways, symbolizes the metaphor of a melting pot or a salad bowl, a country where many different cultures from around the world cross over the border and settle to make one, multicultural nation.  Many people from other countries come to America in order to accommodate for a better lifestyle.  The conveninece favors America with the advancement of travel and technology.  Global American icons, including McDonald's and Coca Cola, are huge, economical contributions to other countries as well as cars and other technology imported from those countries.  Thomas L. Friedman, a columninst from the New York Times, argued in the article "America's Dream Team" the benefits of various ethnical backgrounds in America.  Each person from a different background has different strengths and weaknesses that contribute to society.  He later gave an example of the possiblity of him coming up with an idea and using other countries' resources to construct that idea into something tangible and useful.  Instead of trying to draw borders to prevent immigration, he argues that America should welcome them with open arms because they could be a postive difference for the next generation of our country.
America simultaneously struggles with the idea of becoming a huge melting pot for other cultures.  Recently, the state of Arizona received a lot of backlash for passing a new law allowing them to distinguish potential illegal immigrants by their race.  The NBA's Phoenix Suns were against the new law and to show their support, the team wore official jerseys affectionately displaying the official team name in Spanish - "Los Suns" during a playoff game.  The game was around the time of Cinco de Mayo, but many believed the team were making a political statement.  Nevertheless, this issue shows that although America has made great strides to become more of a huge melting pot for other countries, it still continues to struggle with certain issues that separates the two worlds.

EID: Chapter 14

Our position in the world shape us to over-analyze certain situations and events to the point where it can burst into a huge story.  We live in a society that heavily criticizes people for certain actions.  For example, the article about the bank clerk who took a snapshot of the controversial photo during the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing back in April 1995.  The pictured showed a fireman cradling a presumably deceased infant in his arms with a feeling of compassion.  The photograph was ultimately sold to the Associated Press and streamed across the world.  Many people disagreed that the photo should have been on the front cover of newspapers.  The irony of the situation is the man was not a professional photographer.  He took the picture with a cheap, disposable camera and developed the picture at a local conveninent shop.  He never believed his photo would become circulated throughout the entire world and spark a huge debate on whether or not the snapshot of the presumably deceased infant was humane.  Our world has shaped us to think about certain issues as an issue toward humanity.

Writing A Good Research Argument Using Outlines

Writing a good research argument requires lots of dedicated time and organization.  An outline is a good way to begin collecting and organizing your thoughts and data on paper such as including subheads to make your transitions between arguments stronger and much more effective.  As you turn your attention toward the written portion of the body, you must consider for whom which side you want to argue.  Once you decide on where you stand on the issue, you must integrate your sources correctly avoiding plagiarism.  There are three ways to this process.  They include summarizing, paraphrasing, and direct quotation.  A summary involves condensing your sources into a brief summary, such as a plot, into your own words which usually occurs in the introduction.  Paraphrasing reiterates a portion of a particular idea from one of your sources in a different way than previously written and may vary in length.  Using direct quotations involves taking a specific saying or writing from one of your sources and integrating them within the body of your argument.  These are three basic methods that you can alternate among each other to develop a strong and effective argument in your research paper.

Drafting your research argument is an ongoing process and each writer can draft his paper using different strategies that fit his style of writing.  The key to writing a good paper is to literally write something down on the paper itself.  That does not necessarily mean to start with the introduction.  You can begin writing your paper almost anywhere in the body and build your argument based on what you have written down on paper, whether it be in the middle or even at the end.  The key is to actually have something written down on paper to get your ideas flowing and momentum going.  Writing a good paper requires sacrificing a huge amount of time and energy.  Even the greatest writers experience the occasional writer's block and become fatigued.  Writing is an exercise of the brain; occasionally, it will become very strenuous and exhausting.  To avoid numerous writer's blocks, the best thing is to take intermediate breaks during the process to allow the brain to recuperate and regather your ideas and opinions.  Taking a break every now and then will help rekindle some of that fire of enthusiasm that may be lacking from this long, ongoing process.

Waiting for Superman

The movie Waiting for "Superman" is a documentary analyzing the failure of the American public school system while following a select group of students hoping to be selected into a school by a random lottery drawing.  Throughout the trailer, the film mostly uses pathos to appeal to the viewer.  It begins portraying different interviews with elementary and middle school students wanting to be teachers and doctors to help make the world a better place for the next generation.  The scene shifts to important figures in the education system and their frustration with the education system.  The statistics in the trailer point out that the United States ranks 25th and 21st among thirty developed countries in the subjects of mathematics and science with America being the top ranking in only one category: confidence.  Every kid in America has a dream and wants to achieve that goal whatever it may be with no excuses whatsoever.  The statistics also show the likelihood of kids not graduating from high school and going on to live successfully are very slim and highly unlikely, putting the pressure on students to succeed.  The only chance of the kids getting into a good school is by a random lottery drawing with limited spaces available.  As each number is being chosen, the camera shifts to the kids and their parents' frustration and disappointment of not being chosen.  When the final number is about to be called, the camera quickly shifts from the anticipation and anxiety of the kids' faces to the movie title which persuades the viewer to support the movie and find out who was the lucky student to get chosen to attend the school.

EOL Chapter 7: Avoiding Plagiarism and Documenting Sources

Plagiarism involves stealing the ideas or inventions from the original author without citing or referencing the source, whether intentional or unintentional, and can result in serious offense for the violater.  Before accidentally committing plagiarism, one must consider his sources as if they were the people themselves whoms ideas they belong to.  Another critical element to avoiding this crime involves effective note taking during the research process.  If one comes across an interesting idea or quote during the process, always record the data in a research log with some sort of notation to refer back on how the source might be incorporated into the argument in the final paper.

Plagiarism can result from many diferent reasons such as an abundance of information and sources, fatigue, or overall unorganization of notes and carelessness.  No matter what the reason may be, the consequences are very harsh; and in many institutions, such an act, at the very least, would result in failing the course to ultimately more serious actions such as expulsion from the university.

A person must always remember to never take the art of plagiarism lightly, as committing such a crime is quite the opposite.  Always use good notes for documentation and refer back to the sources to make sure all various types of documents are cited correctly.  Writing a research paper can be strenuous and become overwhelming sometimes, but good organizational tools help to minimize some of that stress.

In the interview led by Terence Smith, the media analysts are in the midst of covering the war in Afghanistan when all of a sudden the viewer hears the sound of sirens warning of a possible missile-born gas attack while the reporting becomes muffled and difficult to hear.  Smith argues that technology is no protection against the real dangers of war and gives examples of journalists and news correspondents who have either been killed or have gone missing.  These reports become even more extremely dangerous when enormous groups of reporters are assigned to travel with specific combat units.  When these reporters and television cameramen are out there in the field covering the war,what the viewers see is only a slice or portion of the war and not the war in its totality.  Professor Robert Thompson of Syracuse University aruges the advantages and disadvantages of the danger of high-tech coverage and embedding of reporters in the battefield by stating that the danger lies when the group of reporters follow the troops into combat, they instantly become the target along with their fellow Americans.  Simultaneously, Thompson expresses his admiration of the spectacular coverage of the war and states that these images are so overwhelming because they have never been seen before.  Smith concludes this argument by stating after months of reporting from Baghdad CNN's correspondet Nick Robertson adn his crew were expelled this weekend by Iraqi authorities.

Meanwhile, in an interview with George Ritzer, the professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, the interviewer asks Ritzer a series of questions as to why and how our society has developed into a "McDonaldized" society where our culture has become simplified.  Ritzer answers the questions based on observation as well as personal experiences arguing that our society has become so scripted and so routined that humanity can no longer be creative and develop their own ideas.  Instead, they are trained to become like robots soon to be replaced by true, mechanical robots who are literally programmed that way.  The interview concludes when Ritzer answers a question if he eats at McDonald's by saying,"Only when I'm in the iron cage and it's the only alternative."  Both cases of these interviews develop an argument that gives examples of the harm and potential damage against our society and culture both physically and emotionally. 

The arguments discussed in the text express different opinions about stereotypical issues in our modern day culture.  One chapter in particular was Chapter 13: Playing Against Stereotypes.  Throughout the chapter, the text primarily focuses on the many different stereotypes such as race and gender that are present in the sports and entertainment industry.  Todd Boyd, a professor of Critical Studies at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, lets his opinion be known in an article from one of his books " "Doin' Me': Frin Tiybgm Black, Rich, and Famous."  Boyd's perspective pinpoints the issue of race in professional basketball and hip hop culture.  When it comes to "spittin' a rhyme" or making a jumpshot, Boyd argues that black musicians and athletes have to live up to certain standards in the White society because they haven't grown up in that type of environment.  Therefore, black athletes and rappers obtain the right to express themselves a certain way and shouldn't be force to live their lives according to someone else's standards because the latter is less intimidating.
Another interesting debate sparked from women playing professional sports.  A non-profit organization produced a film entitled "Transcript: Playing Unfair" designed to provide analysis of the role of gender in sports by integrating short clips from media footage with commentary by three scholars, two females and one male.  The two females argue that the media exploits the female athlete while the male contributes this to the natural tendency of equating athleticism, strenth, and physical power with men.  The WNBA was able to take this negative idea and put a positive spin to it by using this ideas of image and beauty to promote their league and attract more viewers and spectators.   So the author in the texts form a range of perspectives to form their various opinions.

Chapter 5: Finding and Evaluating Research Sources

Chapter 5 discusses the best way to locate research sources and how to critically evaluate both print and electronic sources.  One example included a conmparison of two magazine covers focusing on the same topic.  The visual rhetoric of each cover suggests each article's approach will be different; consequently, the writing styles will also be different.  When conducting research, one must use his skills in rhetorical analysis to help evaluate various sources for his project including the cover design, the table contents, the index, etc.  Also, one must visualize his research to grasp the specifics of his topic and its content.  One helpful tool when performing this task is envisioning the metaphor of the iceberg of research which suggests the various sources which include books, articles, and websites lie beneath the surface while the final paper is the metaphorical "tip of the iceberg."  This process leads into the next step: developing search terms.  These keywords tend to vary when searching the Web, and academic database, or a library catalog.  After many initial searches, one must narrow his search experimenting with a range of different terms to help find ideas and materials that are relevant and specific to the research topic. Scholars divide research into primary and secondary research.  Similarly, sources become divided into primary sources (original texts analyzed in a research paper) and secondary sources (sources that provide commentary on primary material or on the research topic in general).  These two types of sources can be found in many places including the lbrary, community centers, online digital archives, encyclopedias, and even through classmates whom one can consult or even interview.
It can be overwhelming when implementing these research strategies.  Evaluating the primary and secondary sources distinguish among those that are credible, reliable, and authoritative.  When evaluating research via internet, just plugging in a general topic into Google search or Bing search will bring up ovver 5 million sites and it becomes more difficult when trying to distinguish which ones are relevant and useful to the topic.  One must evaluate his sources by the author/publisher and consider the arrangement and organization or the research material.  When evaluating library and database sources, the key is to look in the library's reference area, followed by looking in the library catalog.  When using field research, one must consider the resources available throughout campus.  Creating a dialogue with sources is also important in evaluating research topics.  This can be done through a series of dialogue of sources.  One fiinal and most important task when conducting reserach is citing the sources used within the body of the paper called annotated bibliography.  By performing these steps, one can ensure his paper will be very successful.

Avatars & their Creators

Avatars are interactive self-portraits that people can create based on their personal preference.  Some create only one avatar while others create several avatars.  Some like their avatars to represent their personality while others create avatars that are complete opposites of who they really are as humans.  In Profiles from Alter Ego: Avatars and their Creators, the author uses three different examples to demonstrate the vast contrasts between the avatars and their creators. 
The first example is an avatar who represents strength and immortality while its creator is a man with several disabilities.  Despite his many discapabilities, this character can do things in the virtual world that he would not be able to do otherwise.  He can do things such as riding speeder bikes, fighting monsters, and hanging out with friends at a local bar.  The interaction between him and his competitors bring them together.  The second example is an avatar who is a big, black, and male elf whose creator is a small, Caucasian woman.  She feels that as a female online-gamer, she would be treated differently than if she had a male avatar that other gamers would respect and ultimately form relationships.  The third example is a hot, blonde avatar whose creator is a Caucasian, male student.  Even though he isn't a good player, he is able to customize his avatar in various ways such as changing her hairstyles everyday and giving her a beautiful, hourglass body figure.
All three examples use their virtual identities to their own different advantages.  They all agree that image in the virtual world enhances the game and brings people together on one playing field no matter what you may look like in the real world.  Even within a classroom, people can use different avatars for things such as class discussions where they can communicate strictly via online.  No one could know exactly who was who; only by the person's avatar would a person tell.

Topic: Finding, Narrowing, & Generating Questions

The DK Handbook defines topic as "a general area of interest" such as computer game violence, children's education, automobiles, racism, women's rights, etc.  A topic starts out broad and eventually has to be narrowed down by research.  There are a few ways to choose a topic.  They include asking yourself some questions, talking to others, and going online.  Before starting research, a topic must be narrowed down.  A narrowed topic is usually linked to a particular isssue or controversy of some sort that will be of interest to a certain audience.  The best way to do that is using you initial, broad research to find possible areas that might be useful, surprising, or provocative to your audience.  It is also important to keep an open mind when narrowing a topic because the wider you look for information on a specific topic, chances are you will be surprised by what you find which can cause you to be more engaged resulting in a stronger argument.  Other strategies for narrowing a topic include brainstorming, freewriting, and clustering.
In addition to narrowing your topic, you must also generate some questions in order to have a better sense of what you need to find to write a strong paper.  By generating questions, you will be able to see things such as areas of research you might not have considered otherwise, possible ways for shaping your purpose, questions your audience might have that you need to address, and specific research directions you need to take.  Those questions may be questions of fact, definition, interpretation, consequence, value, and policy.  By using these research questions, you can generate as many other questions on your narrowed topic as you can.  Just let the questions come, and don't judge them because one question might lead to another.  The more questions, the more you will have a sense of what further research you need to do.

English 103

When I found out I had to take English 103 Accelerated Comp, I didn't expect it to be that much work.  I figured we would just read a couple stories from the 18th century, write a couple papers, take some tests, etc.  It actually turned out to be way better than I expected.  For instance, after every class we have to write a blog either about the reading or a certain topic discussed in that day's class.  I have never done a blog before.  I've always read blogs, but I never actually took the time out to create one of my own.  So I thought that was pretty cool.  Also, every English class I've had, we've always read stories about something I never really cared about.  In English 103, we get to watch music videos on YouTube and have group discussions on certain issues that could not be discussed in high school.  So I really enjoy that aspect of the class.  Unfortunately, we do get alot more work than I expected such as a 1500 word paper (and that's not even the biggest one this semester), but wer get to write about a politcal cartoon or a particular advertisement that draws people attention.  So that somewhat eases the load a bit because we're writing about something that we're interested in.  I've only been in this class for about two and half weeks so far, but I am actually looking forward to the rest of the semester and seeing what else there is in store for us to do.

Fat Is an Advertising Issue

The title says it all.  We've finally entered that dimension of tight shirts, mini skirts, and skinny jeans.  But the clothes themselves are not the issue; instead, it is the people inside them and how our society view these people and young women in particular.

A wirter and pyschotherapist by the name of Susie Orbach was asked for her help in creating a Dove campaign for real beauty, an online advertising campiagn that focuses on girls and women who, at one point viewed themselves as good-looking human beings, but since then have lost their self-esteem due to many beauty advertisements that say otherwise.  What this Dove campaign does is that it gives a behind-the-scenes look at how these beauty ad campaigns have transformed these ordinary women into extraordinary supermodels via copy and paste.  She supports the idea of Dove's proposed campaign for real beauty and becomes heavily involved in the project.  While Dove's campaign is certainly making some noise in the cosmetic world, it still leaves some questions for as to whether or not this campaign can really change the perspective of those women who still have those insecurities.

In my opinion, the ad campaign can be very marketable as it will be very effective in the public eye.  It gives the public a sneak peak of how these supermodels and celebritites are being transformed to these "beautiful" and acceptable creatures.  This ad does a good job in revealing what is actually being done in the studio.  It is almost like they natural image and beauty is not good enough in today's society because people won't find that natural beatuy attractive.  I have always found natural beauty to be a very attractive quality in a woman.  Anyone can have fake dentures or have plastic surgery done to themselves, but the real beauty lies within the hand of the Creator.  He ultimately decides what we look like, and it is our responsibilty to take care of his great work.  Drawing is one of my favorite things to do in my pastime.  My passion for art goes beyond life itself.  In fact, I love art so much that I have a chosen a career field of that genre because it is the only thing I will devote the most time, effort, and energy to.  If someone were to take one of my completed pieces and start erasing and resketching it, it would make me mad because it is insult to my work.  Apparently, the picture is not good enough for anyone only because one person says so.  But it also depends on the perspective, and everyone views life and beauty in different ways.  You have to look beyond the surface and look at the inner beauty of the masterpiece.  There you will find the true definition of real beauty because, in my opnion, that's as real as real beauty is going to get.

Photo Sharing, Watching YouTube, Don't Smile for the Camera, and Who We Were: A Snapshot History of America

Technology is constantly becoming more advanced in our society.  From 3-D Television to different social media and texting, it can become very difficult to that generation who has not grown up in this age of technology.  In David Pogue's article "Photo Sharing Even the Folks Can Handle," the author discusses his ideas for building a simple, photography web site specifically engineered for those who do not have the patience to go through and download and print their pictures.  He delves further into his ideas by researching various web photo sites while comparing and contrasting the different sites.  In the end, he finally finds three services that individually do not satisfy his desires of the perfect photo sharing but collectively fulfills them.  He concludes that all sites are free and simple no matter how old you are.  Michael Williams' article "Who We Were: A Snapshot History of America", he takes a more historical approach and talks about the evolution of photography and the first camera.  We have come a long way from using "gooey, wet plates and the need of for a portable darkroom."  Nowadays, we can capture a photo with the snap of a digital camera and cellphone.

In Michael Strangelove's short article "There Is No Shame in Watching YouTube," he reiterates the title by saying there is no shame in watching such comedic videos such as "David after the Dentist," and the Star War Kids.  The reason why is that we enjoy watching those people on the videos that reflect us as individuals as well as our emotions.  In those videos, we experience our different triumphs, tragedies, pasts, and futures.  We also make fun of animals and other people as well as ourselves.  The best thing about it all is that we are not alone: the whole world is watching and laughing with us.  YouTube is designed to be about you.  It is designed for those of us who want the world to experience what we feel.  Whether it be a comedy or a tragedy, YouTube is a form of expression.

Chapter 14: Representing Reality; Envision in Depth

This chapter discusses images and visuals and how they truly represent reality and the world that we live in and also how they define us.  The argument that is being debated is that whether or not photographs truly capture the "truth" of an event or is it used to persuade ourselves and others into seeing and believing what we actually want our lives to look like when in reality our lives are not that wonderful and exciting.

Photographs can be interpretated in a variety of ways.  In one of the photographs in the chapter, an elderly woman is standing in front of a local church praying.  One might interpret this image as an innocent woman praying to her almighty Creator. After reading the text, the person will realize it is rather the opposite that it is a devastating image of the horrific earthquake that took place in Haiti on January 12, 2010, resulting in 230,000 lost lives.  This particular image exhibits the pathos effect; it appeals the emotion as well as sympathy of the viewer.  Another picture shows a large group of people piled in a dumpster.  This image suggests that because they are in a dumpster, these people are homeless and are in need of a place to stay.  These photographs, along with others, can be interpretated in so many ways and give us a metaphorical snapshot of the world that we live in.

The section in the chapter, "Snapshots of the Ordinary", focuses on the simple, ordinary snapshots taken by normal, everyday people.  The first photograph shows how cameras and technology today can not only capture ordinary images, but also the extraordinary.  The images displays three cameras being held in front of a boy's face, each one showing each one of his eyes and his mouth.  Each camera is of a different digital media : a digital camera, a Blackberry cellphone, and an iPhone.  This particular shows how technology today can capture normal features and distort them in different ways that reality could not, and that is basically the idea of a photograph.  It is designed to distort and configure an instantaneous moment in life in a way to imply what we, as humans, want our life to appear to others-and do it in less than one fourth of a second.  It is amazing what pictures can imply and how they can be interpreted.  One might look at a collection of home videos of a family who, according the different videos, appear to be a perfect happy family with their children laughing, dancing, and being cute on camera. But, we know that is far from reality, and those moments are not always captured on film.  Of course, precious moments like those are where we bring out the video camera because it is those moments that we want to take away from our negative culture,and they make us feel good.  We want to create the illusion, or myth, of that perfect family that everyone loves and adores.  As happy and content as those moments make us feel, they can be a disservice to our memory.  Unfortuntely, those moments of our family where they are living their everyday lives can be hard to recall and tend to be forgotten, and that is the lfie that we actually lived.  As we continue to gain those "Kodak" moments of life, we also lose the true story of our lives.

In the article featuring Patrick Cox's "Amerca 24/7", the author goes around the country capturing digital images and photographs of everyday Americans at their various professions.  He mentions that our family albums are our most prized possessions, and after doing a survey with a local fire department chief about residential fires, he concluded that the three items people attempt to recover from the fire are their family members, their pets, and their photo albums.  We treasure these photos because as we get older and with so much going on in the world, we tend to forget the great memories in life and the people that we shared them with.  These photos, in a way, capture our true essence of who we really are and define our true character.

Super Bowl Ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKL254Y_jtc
Like many Americans on the first Sunday in February, I was watching Superbowl XLV between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Over the years, the Superbowl has become the most watched event on television; almost everyone in the world tunes in to watch Superbowl Sunday.  As a result of its superior viewership, many companies choose to develop their most expensive as well as entertaining commercial advertisements for the big event.
This year's Superbowl ad campaign was no different.  Companies such as Doritos and Pepsi were dishing out their best advertisements left and right during the event.  One commercial that captured my attention was Chrysler's ad for their new and improved line of Chrysler vehicles.  The commercial starts out very gray and gloomy, portraying the different landmarks of their main hub of Detroit, Michigan.  The scene is followed by a deep and subtle voice that questions what does a city that has been to "hell and back" know about engineering and designing a luxury sedan.  The voice later begins to explain how the city of Detroit, against what critics may say otherwise, is capable of producing fine machinery through hard work and dedication and who the product is for is just as important as where the product is being manufactured.  The narrator begins to compare Detroit to other efficient American cities such as New York City, the "Windy City" (Chicago), "Sin City" (Las Vegas), and "Emerald City" (Seattle).  Throughout the commercial is the famous rapper Eminem who is a native of Detroit driving around the city in a black and shiny Chrysler 200 sedan while his hit single "Lose Yourself" is being played in the background.
This particular uses the appeal of logos, quotations and statistics, as well as ethos, an appeal to authority or other significant figure.  In this case, the ad uses logos with the narrator comparing the city of Detroit which has become one of the more premier American industrial cities in recent past to the actual Chrysler brand.  The ad uses ethos by using a high profile rapper who happens to be from the city of Detroit and one of his most recognizable songs to promote the vehicle.  I thought this ad was very creative in terms of drawing the audience's attention which is directed towards fine and classy Americans who love to drive fancy cars.  It also gave a perspective of no matter where something may come from, it is about quality and whom the product is for.

College Costs

The comic "Welcome to Economics 101, kid..." is an example of Visual Rhetoric where the rhetoric occurs via images combined with words. In the comic, there is a picture of a teenager standing with weights chained around each of his ankles. Each weight reads an idea or statement that pertains to college tuition: "Student Loans" and "Tuition Hike". The weight with "Student Loans" written on it is way bigger than the weight with "Tuition Hike" written on it. It appears that the teenager is trying to go college to get a better education for himself while also trying to figure out how he is going to pay back his student loans. This visual rhetoric suggests that college tution these days can be very expensive, and borrowing student loans from the bank in order to pay for college can be a long journey when trying to pay back the money borrowed along with interest. The title suggests that while sometimes borrowing student loans from the bank may be necessary, it is not always the most economical decison to put yourself into a deep financial hole. Unfortunately, it is very difficult for the average student to afford to go to college without having to borrow huge students loans. Most scholarships may only cover part of the tuition if not all, not to mention there are other fees to consider such as room and board, textbooks, laptops, and other supplies. In order for a student to receive a full ride to college, he either has to be really intelligent i.e. 4.0 GPA and 2100 on his SATs or he has to be an amazing athlete with an athletic scholarship from the institution to cover costs and expenses. Unfortunately, not everyone is born with those qualities, and they have to find other alternatives to pay for college. The best thing to do is to hope to graduate and get a job right after school to pay back all those student loans.

First Day of Classes at Clemson University Fall 2011

From the moment I woke up in the morning until the moment I walked into my first class in the afternoon, I see many different examples of rhetorics.  The first thing I noticed as soon as I woke up was my roommate's collection of Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean posters on his side of the wall.  When I walked to the door to go take a shower, I noticed a bright orange and purple poster of the Clemson Tigers 2011 Football schedule on the door.  As I walked through the hall, there were signs for different rules and policies of Johnstone Hall.  Even as I approached the bathroom stall, I noticed a sign that said "Pee Stall" and "Poop Stall" for the different stalls.  As I got dressed for class, I turned on the TV to watch last night's highlights on Sportscenter.  Then as I walked through the hall to go have breakfast at Harcombe, there were more signs and posters on the wall that advertised events such as "CRU ministries Wednesday Bible Study in the basement".  When I walked into Harcombe, there was a big sign by the door that read "Welcome Back Tigers".  When I walked to my class, I cut across Bowman Field and listened to the big clock located in Tillman Hall tower.  I also noticed other architects such as the statue of Walter T. Cox, Jr. sitting on a bench near Bowman Field.  Many of the students walking to their classes aere wearing many different variations of Clemson Tiger t-shirts along with other Clemson apparel.  When I walked into my first class, there was a handout of the syllabus for this semester, and I am ready to begin my college career at Clemson University.