Happiness, Meaning, and Personal Ethics
The happiness project was designed for us to investigate the different ideologies that are out there and to hopefully use these to form our own happiness and meaning in life. We had to display our ideologies on happiness and meaning either through art or a piece of writing, some people did both. For my project I decided to write a guide to happiness, the different chapters being different times in our life. I realized a little way in that there is no way to write a guide to happiness because there is no one way to be happy, it is different for everyone. Through my project I wanted to answer the question of how to find happiness and meaning in life which was a very broad question. I decided to interview people of different ages to get their respective on happiness and meaning and it was amazing how much peoples perspectives change on happiness and meaning as they get older.
I learned a lot during this project and the biggest insights were given to me by the elderly at the senior center when I went to interview them. I interviewed people of all different ages but the elderly had so much life experience and knowledge that what they told me about happiness and meaning I really took to heart. Almost every person at the senior center told me the same thing, they told me that it is surrounding ourselves with people that we love and bringing happiness to others that brings the most happiness and meaning in life. I have also put a lot of value on family and trying to make other people happy but after this project I am going to put extra effort into those things because I have realized that that is what makes me truly happy too. This was vastly different from the answers that were given by younger adults, they put value more on money and personal achievement, they listed things like family and loved ones but not a lot of people mentioned helping other people. I also gained a lot of insight into the different ideologies of people regarding the meaning of life, through watching movies and reading books such as into the wild.
I don't think that I will ever have an answer to the question of what the meaning to life is. Especially after I saw how happiness and values change throughout life, I think that my answer to this question will be change as I get older and gain more life experience. One of the biggest questions that I had going into this project was how can I make sure that I am going to be happy with the way my life turned out when it comes to an end. Through this project that I need to make sure all the decisions that I make in my life are true to myself and not just go for instant gratification. When we learned about all of the different views on life like existentialism it brought up a lot of questions for me, I discovered that I have an existentialist view on life, but I also don't like thinking in that way because it makes everything I do and life itself seem so pointless. Instead I try and focus on living up the life I was given, I might not have a purpose here on earth but I intend to make the best of the short time that I was given.
Guide to a Happy Life
Chapter 1: Growing up
Chapter 2: Living up your youth
Chapter 3: Adult Life
Chapter 4: Finding peace
Growing up
Childhood is one of the most important and fun times of your life, a time where you figure out what kind of person you and what you want to do in life. From learning to ride a bike to having your first relationship. It is a time of trial and error and through this you form your identity.
The habits that you form whether they are good or bad a lot of times will stay with you the rest of your life. It is important to internalize the good habits and break the bad ones because it gets harder and harder to make changes as you get older. Making change is one of the most important and difficult things in life and it is important to learn this skill at a young age. So many people in the world are unsatisfied with their lives but are too afraid of making the changes, as Chris Mccandless said in the book Into The Wild: “Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt.” If you learn this skill when you are young it will feel much less daunting when you are older and have to make bigger changes.
Children spend so much time wishing that they were adults and thinking about their adult lives that they rarely spend time enjoying their childhood; you may not realize what an amazing time of your life childhood is, but if you don't take full advantage of it you will be very disappointed looking back on it. The other thing is that when you are a child it is okay to make mistakes; That is what childhood is all about, making mistakes and making sure that we learn from them. It is important to realize though that as you get older your actions start to have a greater impact on other people and yourself especially in middle school and highschool when people start experimenting with drugs, alcohol and sex and many other things; because some of those mistakes can change the rest of your life.
Living Up Your Youth
This is often the most fun and the exciting time of your life and is the the time when you really form your identity which in turn will a lot of times determine your life path. One of the biggest and most important skills that you will learn during this time is responsibility. When you are a child you do not have many responsibilities and a lot of times you are not held responsible for your actions. This skill is best learned at a young age, by doing chores, having to take care of a pet and when you reach your teenage years getting a job. Getting a job at a young age may seem pointless but it teaches you much more than responsibility, for one having extra spending money when you are young is always good and it also will also give you job experience which looks very good on a resume. Though the career you pick may not be the most important thing in having a meaningful and happy life, it is definitely a big contributor. If you choose a job that fits you and that you are very passionate about, you will most likely be surrounded by similar people that share your passion and that you really connect with.
Next I would like to talk about temptation and experimentation, which is one of the biggest struggles for young people today. In today's world with the almost limitless access to information and the media, people are being exposed to the idea of drugs, drinking, and sex from a very young age. These types of things are often glorified by the media and adults around you; at the same time though these types of activities are also condemned by other people. Experimenting with these kinds of things is natural when you are young, but it is important that you do not let any of the these things take over your life especially the drugs and drinking. If you get too caught up in all that stuff it may seem like the right decision at the time but it can affect after a while it will start replacing the activities that you are passionate about and it makes it a lot harder for you to find joy in life without the help of these mind altering substances.
Above all young adulthood is a time when you really figure out who you are as a person and what kind of life you want to pursue. It is a time when you decide whether your childhood dreams are no more than dreams or whether you want to make them a reality. It is important to realize that in this stage in life that the choices you make really begin to matter and in some cases they will decide how the rest of your life plays out.
Adult Life
Adulthood is the first time that you are free to do what you want in life. But the freedom also comes with a lot of responsibility, the times of being walked through life and being set straight if you are going down the wrong path, are over; The freedom comes with a price, no longer will your wants and dreams be made possible by other people. It is the choices that you make that can make those dreams a reality. There choices in life, many of them having a profound impact on your life. I interviewed some people that have made these big life decisions and they said that it is most important to think about your moral values and not make decisions untrue to yourself; Your decision may not give you instant gratification but hopefully it will be better for you in the long term and for your goals in life. It is important later in life to realize that patience is a virtue and that good things take time; Both of these sayings are held very true to a lot of satisfied adults. As Jessica told me, ‘When you are young you tend to look at the world through a very narrow lense, focusing on instant gratification instead of looking at the bigger picture and about whether the decisions you are making are true to your values. Often times as people grow up though they are a lot more patient because they realize they have a lot of time in their lives to fulfill our dreams and don't have to rush through life to achieve them.
I am a strong believer that in order to have a full life you need to explore the world and see different cultures and peoples. There are so many people that live in the same area their whole life never being pushed out of their comfort zone or trying new things; Especially now that the world is so connected, there is no excuse for isolating yourself in one part of the world. I think that people get stuck in the same place, with the same group of people or in the same job and become unhappy, they don't realize that they can easily switch jobs or locations in this new globalized world.
So much of adult life is consumed by work and other obligations, there is little time left. What you do with that time is up to you; Will you spend it in fear of the unknown always worrying about your self image, or will you spend it fulfilling your dreams and living life to the fullest? As jessica said, “The older you get the easier it is to be true to yourself.” Being a teen myself, I see the value of being yourself, I see a lot of people struggling with it and I am lucky to go to a school that encourages individuality; The earlier you are able to discover yourself, the more likely you are to make choices that you do not regret later in life.
I am a strong believer that in order to have a full life you need to explore the world and see different cultures and peoples. There are so many people that live in the same area their whole life never being pushed out of their comfort zone or trying new things; Especially now that the world is so connected, there is no excuse for isolating yourself in one part of the world.
Finding Peace
For many people, it is not until the end of their lives until they find peace and some never find it at all. Finding peace is being able to accept what you have done over your life and hopefully being proud of your accomplishments. Finding peace is looking back on your life and being content with it, maybe you have not always done the right thing or made the right choices but you are able to be happy and put aside any major regrets. Seeing as I have not even reached adulthood, I do not have any knowledge about this area of life, so I went to a senior center and interviewed some elderly people on their what they value having lived full lives and being at the end of the cycle. Everyone that I interviewed had different religions and philosophies but happiness was the most important thing for all of them. When I asked 101 year old Mae how she has found happiness, she said; “Be friendly with everyone,” she also listed things like eating healthy and getting enough exercise as big contributors to her happiness. I think that it is interesting that Mae has moved past the pursuit of material things and is unable to do some of the things that made her happy when she was younger like sports but what still brings happiness and meaning to her life is helping bringing happiness to others. When asked whether there is a connection between meaning and happiness I was told by multiple people that you can have a happy life with no meaning is not worth living. People that have had meaningful lives are able to find peace and contentment later in life.
For some people it is easier to come to terms with the end of their lives than others. Some people turn to religion as an explanation for what comes next and others are able to come to find peace on their own. Religion gives people validation in their accomplishments and a purpose for doing good in life. Those of us that don’t have those beliefs have to validate our existence here on earth in other ways. The satisfaction in knowing that the good that you have done in your life may infact be meaningless in this endless universe but the joy you have brought to other people is enough to validate your existence on earth; Because when we are gone we only live on in the memories of the people whose lives we have touched.
Chapter 1: Growing up
Chapter 2: Living up your youth
Chapter 3: Adult Life
Chapter 4: Finding peace
Growing up
Childhood is one of the most important and fun times of your life, a time where you figure out what kind of person you and what you want to do in life. From learning to ride a bike to having your first relationship. It is a time of trial and error and through this you form your identity.
The habits that you form whether they are good or bad a lot of times will stay with you the rest of your life. It is important to internalize the good habits and break the bad ones because it gets harder and harder to make changes as you get older. Making change is one of the most important and difficult things in life and it is important to learn this skill at a young age. So many people in the world are unsatisfied with their lives but are too afraid of making the changes, as Chris Mccandless said in the book Into The Wild: “Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt.” If you learn this skill when you are young it will feel much less daunting when you are older and have to make bigger changes.
Children spend so much time wishing that they were adults and thinking about their adult lives that they rarely spend time enjoying their childhood; you may not realize what an amazing time of your life childhood is, but if you don't take full advantage of it you will be very disappointed looking back on it. The other thing is that when you are a child it is okay to make mistakes; That is what childhood is all about, making mistakes and making sure that we learn from them. It is important to realize though that as you get older your actions start to have a greater impact on other people and yourself especially in middle school and highschool when people start experimenting with drugs, alcohol and sex and many other things; because some of those mistakes can change the rest of your life.
Living Up Your Youth
This is often the most fun and the exciting time of your life and is the the time when you really form your identity which in turn will a lot of times determine your life path. One of the biggest and most important skills that you will learn during this time is responsibility. When you are a child you do not have many responsibilities and a lot of times you are not held responsible for your actions. This skill is best learned at a young age, by doing chores, having to take care of a pet and when you reach your teenage years getting a job. Getting a job at a young age may seem pointless but it teaches you much more than responsibility, for one having extra spending money when you are young is always good and it also will also give you job experience which looks very good on a resume. Though the career you pick may not be the most important thing in having a meaningful and happy life, it is definitely a big contributor. If you choose a job that fits you and that you are very passionate about, you will most likely be surrounded by similar people that share your passion and that you really connect with.
Next I would like to talk about temptation and experimentation, which is one of the biggest struggles for young people today. In today's world with the almost limitless access to information and the media, people are being exposed to the idea of drugs, drinking, and sex from a very young age. These types of things are often glorified by the media and adults around you; at the same time though these types of activities are also condemned by other people. Experimenting with these kinds of things is natural when you are young, but it is important that you do not let any of the these things take over your life especially the drugs and drinking. If you get too caught up in all that stuff it may seem like the right decision at the time but it can affect after a while it will start replacing the activities that you are passionate about and it makes it a lot harder for you to find joy in life without the help of these mind altering substances.
Above all young adulthood is a time when you really figure out who you are as a person and what kind of life you want to pursue. It is a time when you decide whether your childhood dreams are no more than dreams or whether you want to make them a reality. It is important to realize that in this stage in life that the choices you make really begin to matter and in some cases they will decide how the rest of your life plays out.
Adult Life
Adulthood is the first time that you are free to do what you want in life. But the freedom also comes with a lot of responsibility, the times of being walked through life and being set straight if you are going down the wrong path, are over; The freedom comes with a price, no longer will your wants and dreams be made possible by other people. It is the choices that you make that can make those dreams a reality. There choices in life, many of them having a profound impact on your life. I interviewed some people that have made these big life decisions and they said that it is most important to think about your moral values and not make decisions untrue to yourself; Your decision may not give you instant gratification but hopefully it will be better for you in the long term and for your goals in life. It is important later in life to realize that patience is a virtue and that good things take time; Both of these sayings are held very true to a lot of satisfied adults. As Jessica told me, ‘When you are young you tend to look at the world through a very narrow lense, focusing on instant gratification instead of looking at the bigger picture and about whether the decisions you are making are true to your values. Often times as people grow up though they are a lot more patient because they realize they have a lot of time in their lives to fulfill our dreams and don't have to rush through life to achieve them.
I am a strong believer that in order to have a full life you need to explore the world and see different cultures and peoples. There are so many people that live in the same area their whole life never being pushed out of their comfort zone or trying new things; Especially now that the world is so connected, there is no excuse for isolating yourself in one part of the world. I think that people get stuck in the same place, with the same group of people or in the same job and become unhappy, they don't realize that they can easily switch jobs or locations in this new globalized world.
So much of adult life is consumed by work and other obligations, there is little time left. What you do with that time is up to you; Will you spend it in fear of the unknown always worrying about your self image, or will you spend it fulfilling your dreams and living life to the fullest? As jessica said, “The older you get the easier it is to be true to yourself.” Being a teen myself, I see the value of being yourself, I see a lot of people struggling with it and I am lucky to go to a school that encourages individuality; The earlier you are able to discover yourself, the more likely you are to make choices that you do not regret later in life.
I am a strong believer that in order to have a full life you need to explore the world and see different cultures and peoples. There are so many people that live in the same area their whole life never being pushed out of their comfort zone or trying new things; Especially now that the world is so connected, there is no excuse for isolating yourself in one part of the world.
Finding Peace
For many people, it is not until the end of their lives until they find peace and some never find it at all. Finding peace is being able to accept what you have done over your life and hopefully being proud of your accomplishments. Finding peace is looking back on your life and being content with it, maybe you have not always done the right thing or made the right choices but you are able to be happy and put aside any major regrets. Seeing as I have not even reached adulthood, I do not have any knowledge about this area of life, so I went to a senior center and interviewed some elderly people on their what they value having lived full lives and being at the end of the cycle. Everyone that I interviewed had different religions and philosophies but happiness was the most important thing for all of them. When I asked 101 year old Mae how she has found happiness, she said; “Be friendly with everyone,” she also listed things like eating healthy and getting enough exercise as big contributors to her happiness. I think that it is interesting that Mae has moved past the pursuit of material things and is unable to do some of the things that made her happy when she was younger like sports but what still brings happiness and meaning to her life is helping bringing happiness to others. When asked whether there is a connection between meaning and happiness I was told by multiple people that you can have a happy life with no meaning is not worth living. People that have had meaningful lives are able to find peace and contentment later in life.
For some people it is easier to come to terms with the end of their lives than others. Some people turn to religion as an explanation for what comes next and others are able to come to find peace on their own. Religion gives people validation in their accomplishments and a purpose for doing good in life. Those of us that don’t have those beliefs have to validate our existence here on earth in other ways. The satisfaction in knowing that the good that you have done in your life may infact be meaningless in this endless universe but the joy you have brought to other people is enough to validate your existence on earth; Because when we are gone we only live on in the memories of the people whose lives we have touched.
Rhetoric and Ideology Project.
The Crusades of the 21st Century
When first starting this project, I had planned on talking about the terrorist attack on France because it was fresh on everyone's mind and had the whole world in an uproar. But since I started this project in November there have already been three more major terrorist attacks carried out by ISIS which is now being called DAESH, by many world leaders and media sources who do not want to recognize the legitimacy of their statehood. In the recent attacks on France, Russia, India and the US there were a total of 259 innocent people killed.
But the atrocities do not stop with the killing of foreign nationals. DAESH commits human rights violations daily in their own so called Islamic state. In one instance earlier this year 150 Syrian women and children were executed for crimes such as not fasting properly and practicing “magic.” Perhaps if atrocities like these are happening we are going about dealing with these people in the wrong way. DAESH is manipulating the Islamic holy texts to justify their actions and gain support, condemning all non-believers. Along with working harder to destroy the people spreading these ideologies we also need to destroy the ideologies themselves.
There is no denying that injustice and oppression played a big role in the creation of DAESH and the people of the self-proclaimed Islamic state have every right to want change; however, the atrocities that they have committed are so inhumane that there can be no justification and they need to be dealt with in a manner befitting their crimes.
The acts of terror committed by DAESH do not follow the rules of war. They have committed genocide against the Yazidis and the Kurds, executing hundreds of their people who refused to convert, dumping their bodies by the hundreds into unmarked graves. In the span of three months, the entire area under DAESH rule was practically cleansed of all other religions and ethnic groups.
But the violence does not stop with the eradication of non-Muslims. Atrocities have been committed against the Muslims living under strict Sharia law, minor violations of which have resulted in people being executed, crucified, blown up and tortured. Human rights violations are just one of the reasons that it is imperative for the United States and its allies to eliminate DAESH before any more harm can be done to Syrian and Iraqi civilians.
Much of DAESH’s success is attributed to their propaganda. Their goal is to use their videos and acts of terror to entice islamophobia from non-muslims, trying to make it a war between muslims and the rest of the world. Islamophobia makes it much easier for DAESH to radicalize normally peaceful Muslims. What many people do not realize is that a lot of times the terrorist attacks that DAESH takes credit for are actually not organized by them, they are carried out by people taking action on their propaganda and afterwards DAESH takes credit.
There in no one sure way to defeat DAESH. But one extremely effective strategy is drone strikes. Especially now that drone technology is getting increasingly more accurate and has potential to be extremely effective in defeating ISIS while never endangering the lives of any pilots. A new drone camera technology called DARPA can see objects as small as six inches from 20,000 feet in the air and can scan entire cities at a time, this technology allows the flyers of the drones to get a lot better picture of the situation on the ground which will result in much fewer civilian casualties. It is crucial that we increase drone strikes and use them to their full capability against militants.
If the deaths of 259 civilians due to attacks by DAESH in one month doesn't convince you that they are a real threat than you may as well go join their cause. Their ideologies are just as dangerous as the people themselves filling the heads of everyone around the world with their propaganda. The people and their ideas need to be destroyed for good this time so that new radicalist groups can not spring up and take the place of the last as in the case of DAESH taking the place of Al-Qaeda after they were driven out of Iraq. So we need to attack with everything we have and not stop until every single man and woman fighting for DAESH is dead.
When first starting this project, I had planned on talking about the terrorist attack on France because it was fresh on everyone's mind and had the whole world in an uproar. But since I started this project in November there have already been three more major terrorist attacks carried out by ISIS which is now being called DAESH, by many world leaders and media sources who do not want to recognize the legitimacy of their statehood. In the recent attacks on France, Russia, India and the US there were a total of 259 innocent people killed.
But the atrocities do not stop with the killing of foreign nationals. DAESH commits human rights violations daily in their own so called Islamic state. In one instance earlier this year 150 Syrian women and children were executed for crimes such as not fasting properly and practicing “magic.” Perhaps if atrocities like these are happening we are going about dealing with these people in the wrong way. DAESH is manipulating the Islamic holy texts to justify their actions and gain support, condemning all non-believers. Along with working harder to destroy the people spreading these ideologies we also need to destroy the ideologies themselves.
There is no denying that injustice and oppression played a big role in the creation of DAESH and the people of the self-proclaimed Islamic state have every right to want change; however, the atrocities that they have committed are so inhumane that there can be no justification and they need to be dealt with in a manner befitting their crimes.
The acts of terror committed by DAESH do not follow the rules of war. They have committed genocide against the Yazidis and the Kurds, executing hundreds of their people who refused to convert, dumping their bodies by the hundreds into unmarked graves. In the span of three months, the entire area under DAESH rule was practically cleansed of all other religions and ethnic groups.
But the violence does not stop with the eradication of non-Muslims. Atrocities have been committed against the Muslims living under strict Sharia law, minor violations of which have resulted in people being executed, crucified, blown up and tortured. Human rights violations are just one of the reasons that it is imperative for the United States and its allies to eliminate DAESH before any more harm can be done to Syrian and Iraqi civilians.
Much of DAESH’s success is attributed to their propaganda. Their goal is to use their videos and acts of terror to entice islamophobia from non-muslims, trying to make it a war between muslims and the rest of the world. Islamophobia makes it much easier for DAESH to radicalize normally peaceful Muslims. What many people do not realize is that a lot of times the terrorist attacks that DAESH takes credit for are actually not organized by them, they are carried out by people taking action on their propaganda and afterwards DAESH takes credit.
There in no one sure way to defeat DAESH. But one extremely effective strategy is drone strikes. Especially now that drone technology is getting increasingly more accurate and has potential to be extremely effective in defeating ISIS while never endangering the lives of any pilots. A new drone camera technology called DARPA can see objects as small as six inches from 20,000 feet in the air and can scan entire cities at a time, this technology allows the flyers of the drones to get a lot better picture of the situation on the ground which will result in much fewer civilian casualties. It is crucial that we increase drone strikes and use them to their full capability against militants.
If the deaths of 259 civilians due to attacks by DAESH in one month doesn't convince you that they are a real threat than you may as well go join their cause. Their ideologies are just as dangerous as the people themselves filling the heads of everyone around the world with their propaganda. The people and their ideas need to be destroyed for good this time so that new radicalist groups can not spring up and take the place of the last as in the case of DAESH taking the place of Al-Qaeda after they were driven out of Iraq. So we need to attack with everything we have and not stop until every single man and woman fighting for DAESH is dead.
Rhetoric Project Reflection
This project was designed to show us the power of rhetoric. We first learned how rhetoric is used in our society to convince people of things and studied the history of how influential people in history have used it to gain power and spread ideas. It was very surprising to learn that we all use rhetoric every day whether we are doing it intentionally or not. We next learned about rhetorical strategies such as ethos pathos and logos as long as logical fallacies, which are appeals that can be use as a way to convince the audience of your cause. For the project there were two pieces, the first was to create a rhetorical writing piece on an issue of our choosing which was then turned into a speech or a presentation of some kind that could be displayed at exhibition. I chose to do my project of ISIS because to me that is one of the most important and relevant topics at this time and used rhetoric to try and convince my audience that we need to eliminate ISIS before they can wreak any more havoc on the world.
I used many rhetorical strategies in my writing to better convince my audience of my point of view on my issue. The main rhetoric that I used were the Aristotelian appeals ethos, pathos and logos. Pathos was a big part of my project, using examples of atrocities that ISIS has committed to appeal to people's emotions for example in my speech I said; “ They have committed genocide against the Yazidis and the Kurds, executing hundreds of their people who refused to convert, dumping their bodies by the hundreds into unmarked graves.” This was one of the most effective rhetorical strategy I used. My project was also very informative about the terrorist organization and had a lot of evidence to back up my claims. I informed my audience as to why we should use drones and about the latest drone technology which added to my argument.
I really enjoyed the freedom we had in this project. Being able to choose our own topics and also were able to choose how we presented them made it a lot more engaging and fun. The part that was the most engaging for me was researching my topic in depth and really forming my own opinion on ISIS and what we need to do to stop them. Much of what convinced me are the statistics of the attacks that they have committed. One that stood out to me that I put in my speech was that there were 150 Syrian women and children that were executed for very insignificant crimes. I will be able to use the skills that this project taught me in future writing that I do as well as in my day to day life because rhetoric is such a big part of modern society.
The most difficult thing for me during this project was using my rhetoric in an effective way because I have very strong opinions about this topic and I had to figure out a way to not make my speech too hateful because a lot of times that can make the rhetoric less effective. I had to also not let my anger cloud my ability to analyze the information about the situation in the middle east because it is very easy to point the finger at them and not look both sides of the story. It was very hard for me to accept it but I realized that although their crimes are horrible and there is no justification for what they have done, there is a reason that they are doing what they are doing though it may seem insane to most people.
Through this project, I have discovered how incredibly important rhetoric is in society to get anything done and some of the time it is used in destructive ways. Almost anything can be classified as rhetoric even a stop sign, making it a very important thing to understand and I feel that although we learned a lot in this project, there is a lot more to learn in order to fully understand how rhetoric works. This project also taught me a lot about my own ideologies through studying different controversial topics and forming my own opinions on them. I have learned that a lot of times I make a judgement on a topic and form an opinion about it without doing deep enough research to really understand the topic. I think that this is a big problem in today's society because it makes it very easy for people to be convinced when they make decisions without knowing the whole story. Going forward I will attempt to fully understand the subject before I make a judgement or form my own opinion because it will reflect much more how I genuinely feel and not just the emotions I feel towards a specific incident. I also have realized that I am neither a democrat nor republican, people try and make it very black and white so you have to choose one party or the other. But after much research into the ideologies behind both party I have realized that it is not just an either or, it just depends on the topic.
This project was designed to show us the power of rhetoric. We first learned how rhetoric is used in our society to convince people of things and studied the history of how influential people in history have used it to gain power and spread ideas. It was very surprising to learn that we all use rhetoric every day whether we are doing it intentionally or not. We next learned about rhetorical strategies such as ethos pathos and logos as long as logical fallacies, which are appeals that can be use as a way to convince the audience of your cause. For the project there were two pieces, the first was to create a rhetorical writing piece on an issue of our choosing which was then turned into a speech or a presentation of some kind that could be displayed at exhibition. I chose to do my project of ISIS because to me that is one of the most important and relevant topics at this time and used rhetoric to try and convince my audience that we need to eliminate ISIS before they can wreak any more havoc on the world.
I used many rhetorical strategies in my writing to better convince my audience of my point of view on my issue. The main rhetoric that I used were the Aristotelian appeals ethos, pathos and logos. Pathos was a big part of my project, using examples of atrocities that ISIS has committed to appeal to people's emotions for example in my speech I said; “ They have committed genocide against the Yazidis and the Kurds, executing hundreds of their people who refused to convert, dumping their bodies by the hundreds into unmarked graves.” This was one of the most effective rhetorical strategy I used. My project was also very informative about the terrorist organization and had a lot of evidence to back up my claims. I informed my audience as to why we should use drones and about the latest drone technology which added to my argument.
I really enjoyed the freedom we had in this project. Being able to choose our own topics and also were able to choose how we presented them made it a lot more engaging and fun. The part that was the most engaging for me was researching my topic in depth and really forming my own opinion on ISIS and what we need to do to stop them. Much of what convinced me are the statistics of the attacks that they have committed. One that stood out to me that I put in my speech was that there were 150 Syrian women and children that were executed for very insignificant crimes. I will be able to use the skills that this project taught me in future writing that I do as well as in my day to day life because rhetoric is such a big part of modern society.
The most difficult thing for me during this project was using my rhetoric in an effective way because I have very strong opinions about this topic and I had to figure out a way to not make my speech too hateful because a lot of times that can make the rhetoric less effective. I had to also not let my anger cloud my ability to analyze the information about the situation in the middle east because it is very easy to point the finger at them and not look both sides of the story. It was very hard for me to accept it but I realized that although their crimes are horrible and there is no justification for what they have done, there is a reason that they are doing what they are doing though it may seem insane to most people.
Through this project, I have discovered how incredibly important rhetoric is in society to get anything done and some of the time it is used in destructive ways. Almost anything can be classified as rhetoric even a stop sign, making it a very important thing to understand and I feel that although we learned a lot in this project, there is a lot more to learn in order to fully understand how rhetoric works. This project also taught me a lot about my own ideologies through studying different controversial topics and forming my own opinions on them. I have learned that a lot of times I make a judgement on a topic and form an opinion about it without doing deep enough research to really understand the topic. I think that this is a big problem in today's society because it makes it very easy for people to be convinced when they make decisions without knowing the whole story. Going forward I will attempt to fully understand the subject before I make a judgement or form my own opinion because it will reflect much more how I genuinely feel and not just the emotions I feel towards a specific incident. I also have realized that I am neither a democrat nor republican, people try and make it very black and white so you have to choose one party or the other. But after much research into the ideologies behind both party I have realized that it is not just an either or, it just depends on the topic.
Here is a link to my live presentation at exhibition- https://drive.google.com/a/animashighschool.com/file/d/0BzDN9DOa1uJVTUhxMjhVNG1lWEE/view?ts=56a7073f
Voices from the Animas
River Spill Project Reflection
After the recent Gold King Mine spill in the Animas, we decided to do a project in which we could answer some very important questions many locals have been asking. Some of the questions that we looked into were, why did this happen? What are the potential repercussions the spill may have on the environment and our community? and Finally, What can we do to prevent something like this from happening in the future? We felt that the answer to these questions needed to be more personal than the answers most of the media was getting, because of the importance of the Animas River to so many people in our community. In order to do this, we decided to do interviews with members of the community, with the belief that every voice should be heard.
The first step in this process was doing background research about the spill and finding what metals are present in the river and what that means for the people and animals living around it. We looked deeper into this question in chemistry. Once we had some background knowledge, we were told to find someone to interview. I chose Alex Mickel, a family friend and owner of Mild to Wild Rafting. We then took our interviews and put them on StoryCorps, an organization with the mission of collecting the stories of everyday Americans. The final piece to the project was an exhibition where we invited the community to listen to the amazing stories we had recorded.
After doing much background research and listening to a lot of different perspectives on the river, from people that could care less to people whose livelihood was affected, I have been able to figure out where I stand on the subject. I feel that although many people, especially in Silverton, are against making Silverton a superfund site, that is the only fast and realistic solution to dealing with the mine problem as a whole.In the article The Real Culprit in the Animas River Spill, Lauren Pagel talks about just how bad the problem is: “At least 40% of the streams feeding the headwaters of Western watersheds are polluted from mining.” Statistics like these are what make superfund the only option, because it is almost impossible for anyone but the federal government to clean up the mines, and also to fix the problem permanently. This needs to be done soon because of the amount of damage that has already been done, and is continuously being done by the mines that have been left to seep their toxic water into the river. Especially after discovering the metals in the water for myself with the tests we did in chemistry, I think that this problem is very important even though there is the possibility that the tourism industry in the area may take a blow with superfund being implemented.
The most important and the biggest learning experience from the project was the interview that I did with Alex Mickel. He is a long-time family friend, as I mentioned, but I never had had the chance previously to talk with him about the importance of the river to him. I had never done an interview like that, so that part was a learning experience in and of itself. I had prepared some questions to ask, but for most of the interview it was just off the top of my head, and I feel like I could [should?] have been better prepared. We discussed Alex’s love for the river and then went on to talk about how the spill affected his business. One thing that really stood out was when he told me that if the river had not re-opened he would have had to close the business. This made me realize that although I care about the river and am saddened by the spill, there were people affected much more than myself. After doing the interview I realized that I should have prepared more so that I could have gotten the most out of the interview, but for the most part it was a good experience and I learned a lot from my interviewee.
Allowing the public to come in and listen to the interviews was a great way for perspectives to be shared, including among people who may not already understand the river spill. For my classmates that had not completed an interview yet, it was a great chance to find an interviewee. Exhibition was also the first time that I was able to listen to my peers’interviews, which made me realize how important it is for every voice to be heard. was really cool seeing them [what? this is unclear] all put together. The one problem that I had with the exhibition is that I felt that we needed more direction. I was not sure what to do so I talked to people from the community which let me hear more perspectives on the spill and answer questions that they had [this actually sounds like a good thing. Do you intend that it should sound that way?]. Other than that, exhibition went great and I took a lot away from it.
I grew a lot through this project.One of the main things that I learned was the importance of listening to everyone's perspective because a lot of times, you can learn a lot if you go into it with an open mind. My perspective was not changed much by the project. However, by hearing other people, I was able to strengthen my argument. As far as content goes, before this project all I knew was that there were three million gallons of water containing heavy metals spilled into the Animas. I did not know what that meant for the environment or of the effects it would have on people. Now, after much research, I think that I have an understanding of all of those things. I also have realized that the problem does not stop with Silverton -- there are over 500,000 mines like the Gold King around the United States that are potentially leaking even worse things into our water systems. So this project really opened my eyes to the larger problem, and I now would like to do further research into how the problem can be dealt with.
After the recent Gold King Mine spill in the Animas, we decided to do a project in which we could answer some very important questions many locals have been asking. Some of the questions that we looked into were, why did this happen? What are the potential repercussions the spill may have on the environment and our community? and Finally, What can we do to prevent something like this from happening in the future? We felt that the answer to these questions needed to be more personal than the answers most of the media was getting, because of the importance of the Animas River to so many people in our community. In order to do this, we decided to do interviews with members of the community, with the belief that every voice should be heard.
The first step in this process was doing background research about the spill and finding what metals are present in the river and what that means for the people and animals living around it. We looked deeper into this question in chemistry. Once we had some background knowledge, we were told to find someone to interview. I chose Alex Mickel, a family friend and owner of Mild to Wild Rafting. We then took our interviews and put them on StoryCorps, an organization with the mission of collecting the stories of everyday Americans. The final piece to the project was an exhibition where we invited the community to listen to the amazing stories we had recorded.
After doing much background research and listening to a lot of different perspectives on the river, from people that could care less to people whose livelihood was affected, I have been able to figure out where I stand on the subject. I feel that although many people, especially in Silverton, are against making Silverton a superfund site, that is the only fast and realistic solution to dealing with the mine problem as a whole.In the article The Real Culprit in the Animas River Spill, Lauren Pagel talks about just how bad the problem is: “At least 40% of the streams feeding the headwaters of Western watersheds are polluted from mining.” Statistics like these are what make superfund the only option, because it is almost impossible for anyone but the federal government to clean up the mines, and also to fix the problem permanently. This needs to be done soon because of the amount of damage that has already been done, and is continuously being done by the mines that have been left to seep their toxic water into the river. Especially after discovering the metals in the water for myself with the tests we did in chemistry, I think that this problem is very important even though there is the possibility that the tourism industry in the area may take a blow with superfund being implemented.
The most important and the biggest learning experience from the project was the interview that I did with Alex Mickel. He is a long-time family friend, as I mentioned, but I never had had the chance previously to talk with him about the importance of the river to him. I had never done an interview like that, so that part was a learning experience in and of itself. I had prepared some questions to ask, but for most of the interview it was just off the top of my head, and I feel like I could [should?] have been better prepared. We discussed Alex’s love for the river and then went on to talk about how the spill affected his business. One thing that really stood out was when he told me that if the river had not re-opened he would have had to close the business. This made me realize that although I care about the river and am saddened by the spill, there were people affected much more than myself. After doing the interview I realized that I should have prepared more so that I could have gotten the most out of the interview, but for the most part it was a good experience and I learned a lot from my interviewee.
Allowing the public to come in and listen to the interviews was a great way for perspectives to be shared, including among people who may not already understand the river spill. For my classmates that had not completed an interview yet, it was a great chance to find an interviewee. Exhibition was also the first time that I was able to listen to my peers’interviews, which made me realize how important it is for every voice to be heard. was really cool seeing them [what? this is unclear] all put together. The one problem that I had with the exhibition is that I felt that we needed more direction. I was not sure what to do so I talked to people from the community which let me hear more perspectives on the spill and answer questions that they had [this actually sounds like a good thing. Do you intend that it should sound that way?]. Other than that, exhibition went great and I took a lot away from it.
I grew a lot through this project.One of the main things that I learned was the importance of listening to everyone's perspective because a lot of times, you can learn a lot if you go into it with an open mind. My perspective was not changed much by the project. However, by hearing other people, I was able to strengthen my argument. As far as content goes, before this project all I knew was that there were three million gallons of water containing heavy metals spilled into the Animas. I did not know what that meant for the environment or of the effects it would have on people. Now, after much research, I think that I have an understanding of all of those things. I also have realized that the problem does not stop with Silverton -- there are over 500,000 mines like the Gold King around the United States that are potentially leaking even worse things into our water systems. So this project really opened my eyes to the larger problem, and I now would like to do further research into how the problem can be dealt with.