Begin Again

Taylor Swift's songs are always just what I need no matter what my mood is. Whether I am happy, overwhelmed, going through a break up, her songs were always spot on with my emotions. Taylor Swift's songs relate to almost all emotions and she has done a fabulous job using pathos, ethos and logos to relate to her listeners. I especially related to Begin Again because of leaving home and starting new at college. We all had to begin again and form new friendships; relationships and deal with the pains of missing everyone back home.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/taylor-swift/846410/begin-again.jhtml#id=1518072

She easily uses ethos in her video, because of her wide spread respect from the younger population. People tend to believe those who they respect, and so many people respect Taylor Swift.

She uses pathos by writing this song about a break up or moving on in life. Almost all young teens and young adults can relate to that in one way or another. She is genius to relate these songs to such a wide spread audience. The topic of moving and breaking up will never go out of style as well.

She use logos in her songs by talking about moving on. She is not trying to tell her listeners and fans to stay in the past. She is using logic as well as emotions to help them move on. She gives girls hope in the hard times that they are facing.

Discovery Essay- Pageants and Pedophiles

“Displaying such a mature look (these girls are five or six years old, yet their faces look like those of at least sixteen years old) may attract unwanted public, such as pedophiles. Paying the fee for your child’s picture to be posted on a website with heavy traffic is again, in my opinion, not the best choice to be made. Unfortunately, there have been cases of young pageant participants that have been victims in murder cases, so things are not as simple as one might think.”

The main argument in this quotes is that by entering your child in a pageant and putting their face and information in books and magazines, they are jeopardizing their child's safety. Now this may seem far fetched to some of the Pro- Pageant groups, but there have been multiple cases of murder due to the publicity of these child stars.

Children are vulnerable and easy targets to pedophiles and criminals. They need to be protected from these people and frankly their parents are not taking the time of day to even consider this. Although some pageant lovers may object to this scary truth  they can't disagree with the facts and the history. We need to put restrictions in place and have more discloser when they are showcasing young contestants on Toddlers and Tiaras. These children do not deserve to be taken advantage of or put in harms way. No one does.

Podcast

I guess you could say that I am technology challenged. Ever since I was a little girl, I would have my dad or older sister help me with anything computer  or electronic related. No matter how hard I try to understand Excel, updating my computer or even using I-tunes, it simply never clicked. 

The process of doing this assignment was really good for me. It helped me learn how to apply the knowledge I do know and work independently and through problem solving figure out my other questions. Now that I am in college, I do not have my dad or sisters to ask for help as easily. It is a bitter sweet reality for me. I am learning to be more independent and not rely on others so much but at the same time, having to deal with it by myself. With the help of Mr. Overall and some classmates, I finally figured out how to drag music clips down, cut out parts of my podcast and put it all together. 

My biggest struggle of this whole process was changing it to an MP3 file and uploading that. I called a classmate in utter panic as the deadline was creeping up, looked up tutorials on youtube and looked online too. Nothing seemed to be helping me figure out what was going wrong. I finally figured out how to upload my Podcast, luckily for me, I have a very patient professor.

      I’m sure you have all heard the term “I’ve been to hell and back” well let me tell you, I have. Just 3 weeks ago sorority rush was in full swing, and it was beyond crazy. There was over 900 hormonal, moody and stressed girls crammed in ballroom eagerly awaiting for the days activities to begin, me being one of them. Everyday we would arrive and immediately go to our seat, then we would have to sit on the envelope that tells you what houses want you back for about an hour, while they talk to us and do silly skits. That hour is so painfully long and feels like it last a lifetime! Once you find out what houses you will be visiting we make the long walk to the Greek. Normally its not that big of a deal, but when your hair is all done, make up is on and you’re in heals walking in the 100+ degree weather, it’s not a pretty scene. Then the moment comes, where we must go to the houses. You get in single file line and slowly start to enter the house. You can barely hear yourself think because the active sorority girls are singing (very loudly) and clapping their hands inches from your face. Then you proceed to sit in a chair while the sorority girl kneels in front of you and have a forced awkward conversation. If that’s not bad enough, it is so loud in that room you are literally yelling at each other in order to talk. Now, rush may seem silly and completely ridiculous to non-Greek students, but it actually is very important for all of those who go through with it.  It is a huge commitment and honor, we don’t just wear our letter for the next four years of college, we wear them forever. I have only been apart of a sorority for 3 weeks, but I can already tell its one of the best decisions of my life. The girls in my house are so real and genuine, I can go to them for anything, and as crazy as I sound, I would go through rush again and again in order to be a part of my sorority.