Final Project Videos

Issue Video

Professional Video

Personal Video

Rhetorical Analysis

What is the topic? Working out
Who trains them? A trainer that works at the Fike recreational center
For/to whom? The students in Clemson Life
Where does it appear? at Fike Recreational Center in Clemson University
When did it start? The Clemson Life Program just started emphasizing working out three years ago
How is it set up? The students walk or run around the track for about 10 minutes to warm up, and then do 20 minutes of machines with light weights
Why does it happen? The students work out because it teaches them many life skills. First of all, it teaches them discipline. They also learn to take care of themselves and how to have a healthy lifestyle.
This is a picture of Catelyn. She lost twenty pounds from the workout program for Clemson Life and is very proud of it, she will not hesitate to tell anybody her success story!




What is the topic? Paying for meals/snacks/drinks
Who teaches them? They go to math classes at Clemson University that teach them basic skills like counting, money numbers, multiplication, division. Different students are at different levels as well.
For/to whom? The students in Clemson Life
Where does it appear? Chilis Too on campus, drink machines, Starbucks
When did it start? This has been an ongoing thing for a long time
How is it set up? The students go out to eat at Chilis Too and receive their own bills. They then count their money and decide how much to pay and tip. We look over their shoulder to make sure it is correct. Also, I took some girls to Starbucks and they payed for their drink using their money counting skills.
Why does it happen? The students are able to do this because it teaches them to be independent. It also helps them exercise their math skills and put them into practice


On the way to Starbucks

Interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37qS0KHWXUs

Interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37qS0KHWXUs

Interview

http://s920.photobucket.com/albums/ad49/kbwood/

Video of pictures from Brazil

Plan Of Attack For Final Projects

My plan of attack for the final projects is to make three separate videos that show different parts of my experience. For one of my videos, I plan on showing pictures only and talking about my experiences with this culture. For the second one, I plan on interviewing the girl in charge of Clemson Life and who tutors the students as well as plans social activities like going to the gym or going to various on campus events. For my third video, I will talk about what I learned from this experienced and the knowledge I have gained about my culture and other cultures. In my first video I will show pictures from different activities I have experienced with the Clemson Life culture, all the way from simple outings like Starbucks to big events like birthday parties. In my interview with the Clemson Life leader, I will ask her what she as gained from working with these students and what she has learned from living in two different cultures, Clemson Life and regular college life. I am really excited to do my videos because I know that my eyes have been opened to a different culture and I have felt a growing passion about sharing the special times I have had with Clemson Life.

Tropos in Photos

In the video we watched for class, we learned what tropos means. A trope is a figure of speech that helps direct the hearer or reader towards making of meaning. Tropos means a turning, direction, or way. In my first photo I showed a birthday party. I photographed this a week ago at my best friend’s 20th birthday party. The crowd at the party is included in the frame and the food provided. This is because most of the crowd was in the kitchen where the food was. The rest of the apartment is not revealed in this photo because the main crowd stayed in the kitchen where all the life was, expressing the spirit of the party. This crowded photo tells the story of my experience at the birthday party because it was crowded, and I felt very claustrophobic the whole time. Also, the food shown shows my experience at the party because I had some cookie cake and brownies and it made the party much better. My next picture was me reading my bible at bible study. This was taken a couple of weeks ago while I was reading the book of Jeremiah. My bible and me are included in the frame while the rest of the girls at bible study are not. This is because I was in the middle of smiling at something and somebody caught me candid, and bible study is a more personal experience opposed to a group experience. This picture tells my bible study experience because I am constantly learning new things in bible study that make me smile and feel more joyful. Finally, the last picture is a picture of the Clemson Tiger Walk. The crowd and the football players, along with tailgates are shown in this frame. This is because these things add to the experience of the Tiger Walk, bringing enthusiasm and cheer to the Tiger Walk. Death Valley is not included in this picture because the Tiger Walk occurs before the game starts and is outside of the stadium. This sums up my experience watching the Tiger Walk because the crowd and the players both game me a sense of hype and pride for my team.

Taking Pictures and Comparing Them

I really liked learning more about photography. I have always loved taking pictures and in the future I hope to take a photography course. All of these tips helped me and I was happy to hear that you should always care more than one memory card, because I always do that. I also carry and extra battery if my battery dies.

The first shot I have is a horizontal shot. This is a picture of people at a party. There is nobody paying attention to the picture and everybody is having a good time and socializing.

This is a shot of me reading my bible during bible study. This was taken from a different angle and is an example of looking up on a shot.

This is a shot of the tiger walk and is a vertical shot. It is also from an angle of looking down because I was standing on a hill.

I found it helpful to learn about tri pod shots because I have gotten frustrated before with my camera when my pictures did not turn out as clear or sharp as others. This is because I do not have a camera that takes tri pod shots.

My experience in another McDonald's

Since I am not in a different country, I do not have the opportunity to go to another McDonald's in the country. However, I have been to a McDonald's in Brazil and it was a great experience. It is incredible to me how McDonald's is worldwide and caters to it’s culture. In the Brazilian McDonald's, there was a lot of lemon flavor in their menu items. I found this interesting because there is nothing based on lemon in our USA McDonald's. Brazilian McDonald's has items such as “chicken lemon crispy” and “wrap crispy lemon.” USA McDonald's has ranch grilled chicken wraps and barbecue crispy chicken wraps, which seems so normal in the USA while lemon flavored sandwiches are normal in Brazil. I remember getting a regular hamburger in Brazil with “hot mustard.” The hamburger tasted a little different but the hot mustard tasted nothing like mustard in the USA. It was made with peppers and very spicy. I also ordered a “light coke” at the McDonald's in Brazil. I noticed a difference in their drinks because they do not have anything labeled as diet, everything is light. When it came to dessert time, I wanted an apple pie. Instead of apple pies, they had banana tortes. This makes sense because there is an abundance of bananas and plantains in Brazil. I enjoyed the torte, but my taste buds were not used to this so I would not eat it again. In conclusion, my McDonald's experience really opened up my eyes to other cultures taste buds and how food changes between cultures.

Nicolas Carr’s comments on Nietzsche’s typewriter

"Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts"-Nietzsche

I thought this article was extremely interesting with many great points. Some things were brought to my attention that I would have never thought about otherwise. This statement above is true because we think in different ways when we are using different writing tools. On a computer, we think about getting the point across faster, so we use more abbreviated words such as "jk" for just kidding or "nvm" for never mind. Americans think faster on computers because their fingers are working just as fast as their mind if they are good at typing. Writing on pen and paper is different because abbreviations are not as acceptable, we think more formal and write words out. I found it extremely interesting from the article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" about how we skim articles that are in print. I find myself doing this with my text books, but if i have something that is online, it is easier to read and absorb all of the information. I have trained my brain to read the computer better than I read print pages.
I look back on my childhood when I grew up reading books and magazines, and now children are always on "learning laptops" or playing computer games. Learning laptops are similar to regular laptops except they only promote learning activities for children. These programs are making American "stupid" because it trains our minds to be lazy. We are being lazy because instead of reading the newspaper, turning it, picking it up, all we have to do is go online and type "news" and we have millions of options. I wish that American would go back to it's old ways in print, because it is more reliable than computers. Hand written notes are so much more sincere than a quick, convenient email.

My Culture from the Outside Looking In

I found the videos very helpful for this blog assignment. I thought it was so fascinating how Professor was in New Jesrsey and had a realization that HE was different, and not his New Jersey friends. I think we do this too often and think that we are the normal ones when sometimes we are not “normal” compared to everybody else. I thought it was also really near when the video video talked about other cultures that we view as minor being distinct and unique.

If I was hosting an exchange student that had never been to the US, I would explain my culture as mainly Caucasian and spoiled. My culture is extremely spoiled because most of the students at Clemson have cars and a place to live. We too often take this for granted, and from the outside looking in one may say that we think the world revolves around us. My culture is used to getting what we want most of the time. This is nothing to brag about but it is true. Males are viewed as the “leader” in households while women are supposed to cook, clean, and take care of the children. Marriage is meant to last forever and couples are expected to have kids. .

From the information on the “Geert-Hofstede Cultural Dimensions,” power has a huge role in my US culture today. People who have more money are seen to have more power, and people who are ranked high politically. Most of these people are males. I would tell the exchange student that individualism is also highly valued in my culture. People are supposed to try their best to work their way up to success, especially in the business world. There is not much long term orientation in my culture anymore, doing “new” things or starting “new” traditions are becoming more and more popular. While people used to go to denominational churches, like Presbyterian or Baptist, most people in my culture are going to new nondenominational churches with loud rock music and no pulpits or dressing up.

Cultural Literacy in my culture and others

I really enjoyed watching all of the videos this week and understanding the concept of cultural literacy. In my opnion, cluture literacy is understanding the culture and knowing how to communicate with different age groups or different types of people within the culture. In the culture I am from today, it is almost required to understand computers. Being cultural literate at Clemson University means knowing how to Facebook, email, text, and anything else that has to do with media. Also, it means knowing what is going on with sports teams. Clemson is very big on sports and knowing how the teams are doing helps students fit into the culture here. Also, knowing how to have a job and keep up with homework exemplifies cultural literacy. All students have homework and usually discuss their assignments with each other.

In other cultures that are not my own, I try to fit in by knowing what they like and do not like. When working with the Clemson Life students, I have noticed that they are very different from my usual Clemson student culture. They have to worry about things like getting a ride, walking to class alone, or eating alone. These are things that most Clemson students, such as myself, do not think twice about. Also, they do not go to Facebook or email for questions or to keep in touch with their friends, they all live together so they do not have to deal with online sources. Their teachers usually contact them first, which is unusual for other students. I have tried to fit in with this by finding them on campus when I need to talk with them, picking them up for a Starbucks run, or going to their apartment in Tilman Place instead of meeting them somewhere. I have also sat through a class with them, Western Dance, to see how they pick up on class skills and their reactions to teachers.

The gap that remains for me is getting on a personal level with the students, and breaking down any walls of mistrust they may have. This will help me understand their culture better and understand them as people better.


Caitlin and me making a Starbucks run!

Communicating through new media

My generation is all about media for communicating. There are many different types of media, but the post popular types are Facebook, email, twitter, blogging, and Skype. I have communicated through all of these types of social networks and they all can serve similar purposes, but differ in how they are used.

1. Facebook-Many people use Facebook as a way to post pictures, comments, and status'. A status talks about what that person is doing or where they are, others may see it and learn that they are doing the same thing that person is doing. Also, Facebook is a great way to communicate because you can send private messages if you do not want everybody reading it, as opposed to a comment on somebody's wall where every friend can see it. In Facebook you can also create events or make groups. i have used this by planning events for birthday parties or putting study groups together for school.

2. Email- Email is a great source of communication that serves one purpose, sending a cyber message to somebody. As opposed to talking on the phone, email is at your convience and you can respond or send something whenever you would like. email is a great way to contact busy people in today's society. I have used emails to talk to professors, talk to my parents, or catch up with old friends.

3. Twitter- Twitter is a fairly new source of communication. Twitter mainly serves for people to talk about themselves, and say what they are doing at that moment, or who they are with, or where they are. I have used it for communicating with others before by tweeting to them.. for example "@Annalaurens do you want to meet for lunch tommorow" This shows up on all the people's pages who are following me on twitter, and it shows up on my friend Anna's page because I tagged her user name.

4. Blogging- I am new to blogging and have realized it is a great source of communication with people you would never usually meet. You can create internet relationships with others you have things in common with.

5. Skype- Skype is a great way to communicate with others that are far away from you. If you are in another country or on vacation, you can Skype somebody, see their face, and hear their voice. I have used this over the summer when I was at home and my college friends were far away, This is a great way to visually connect with somebody.

These four ways of communicating are fast, efficient, and to the point. I can not imagine life without internet, and I do not use my phone nearly as often as I use the computer.

Throughout this course, I am going to use media communication to observe and learn from the culture I am studying, the Clemson Life students. I am learning a lot already, and have been talking to some of them through cell phones and email. I have been using email to plan when I am going to see them.

First Post-CLAM reflections

My name is Katie. I am excited about taking this online course and learning more about another culture other than my own. I feel like I am very ignorant when it comes to people different than me, and I need to improve that. In my opinion, in order to love others to the fullest, we need to understand them and where they come from and why they believe what they do.
I love how organized this course is. I have taken online courses before and they were not nearly as well explained as this one. I am excited about keeping an online blog because it will be helpful to reflect about my experiences. I think it will be cool to do an interview as well. I will be working with the Clemson LIFE students this semester, trying to see what they are like and how they live. They have disabilities that I can not relate to, so I am eager to see their culture.