Blog #13- Motivating my Research

1. I am studying/trying to learn about underage drinking in college.

2. I am studying/trying to learn about underage drinking in college because i want to find out why students feel as though it is a crucial aspect of college life.

3. I am doing this in order to prevent the dangers of teen drinking.

Blog #12- Revision

Before Revision:

What is displayed on billboards, in commercials, on the runway, or even as toys creates an image of unattainable beauty.  This influence has a huge impact on our idea of what we should look like as individuals.  Marie Wilson, Founding President of the White House Project states, “You can’t be what you can’t see” (Miss Representation). Girls and women are suffering form a lack of self-esteem, depression, and eating disorders due to the influence of images in the media (Grabe). The media today defines beauty through extremely skinny and perfect looking celebrities, which causes a lack of confidence and unhealthy lifestyle for women.

Revised:

What is displayed on billboards, in commercials, on the runway, or even as toys creates an image of unattainable beauty.  Marie Wilson, Founding President of the White House Project states, “You can’t be what you can’t see” (Miss Representation). This quote explains how what we see in the media impacts our idea of what we should look like as individuals.  Girls and women are suffering form a lack of self-esteem, depression, and eating disorders due to the influence of images in the media (Grabe).  The media today defines beauty through extremely skinny and perfect looking celebrities, causing a lack of confidence and unhealthy lifestyle for women due to the inability to emulate what is seen and achieve “perfection”. 

Blog Entry #11: Venue for your argument

My essay is about how the media effects the idea of body image and being "perfect."  The best venue for my essay would be a women's magazine, a health magazine, or even a teen's magazine as the issue often gears toward a young audience.  I think more specifically, a magazine like Women's Day or Shape would be great magazines to cover this phenomenon, as well as USA Today which addresses common controversial issues to a widespread audience.

The article i found was from USA today-"Do Thin Models Warp Girls' Body Image?":
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-09-25-thin-models_x.htm

1.This article is about the issue of the thinness of models.  Models and celebrities are being admired for their thin weight and it is spreading the message that you need to be super thin to be considered "sexy."  Unfortunately, this is causing harm to be done to girls bodies as it influences eating disorders.

2. The author's stance on the issue is that being rail-thin is unhealthy and not beautiful, yet the image of models in the media puts an unhealthy idea in the head of many to feel the need to be super thin as well.  This is now a widespread concern as it is a dangerous image to emulate.

3. The writer makes her argument by crediting many different people who work in the world of media or fashion.  It is very well organized, she explains the craze of how being super-thin became desirable and how it is unhealthy. Then she talks about how youth is affected by the controversy.  Then, she also provides background as to how models are supposed to look, and finishes the article by discussing how all women are different sizes.  Quotes are included throughout the piece.

4.  Yes I agree with the writer, I think this piece is a really important topic to be aware of, and it is interesting.  Plus, i agree with her stand about how it is trickling down to a younger audience and putting ideas into girl's heads of what beauty should be.  Eating disorders are a huge issue and this is the cause.  The author doesn't include any bias, she just explains the issue and shines light on it from many different points of view.

5. I really like how this piece is written.  To start off, it has a clear and bold title, "Do thin models warp girls' body image?"  Then, there is a quote from a real life fashion model who realizes how the modeling industry i starting to portray models that are too thin.  I also love how the piece is organized, separating each section clearly as it moves on to a different issue or point of view.  Through each section, different people are quoted.  A professor is quoted, as well as an employee of a modeling agency, as well as a writer from Glamour.  With this technique, the writer gets many different points of view without adding any bias of her own, and that is really effective.  At the same time, however, i wish that the writers voice was heard more.  It seems as though this article consists entirely of quotes and i would like some of her own (unbiased) insight.

6. I will definitely use the USA Today article as a guideline for my paper, especially because i am writing my paper about the same specific issue. I love how the writer of this article is organized, separating each section with a different headline, and then using a primary source, like interviews, with people of all different professions.  By adding quotes to those people, it allows the audience to relate more, because they are every day people who see this issue in effect.  I definitely want to use this technique in my paper.  I think i should interview people (they can obviously remain anonymous) who have come face to face with the issue of body image/eating disorders or witnessed it.  I didn't think of using this technique until coming across this paper.  I also love how the writer added background information about how models are meant to look, and how twiggy sort of "shaped" the idea of thinness being ideal.  The writer makes this a narrative in a way, with some investigative aspects.  I think that is an interesting approach.  She is informative and I really enjoy her unbiased tone as she adds lots of insight to the topic.  I will definitely be following these techniques.

Blog #10- Finding a Controversial Topic

1. The Body Image Presented by the Media Promotes Disordered Eating
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Viewpoints&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010003228&mode=view


"The Body Image Presented by the Media Promotes Disordered Eating" by Jennifer Derenne and Eugene Beresin. Anorexia. Stefan Kiesbye, Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press, 2010. Jennifer Derenne and Eugene Beresin, "Body Image, Media, and Eating Disorder," Academic Psychiatry, May-June 2006. Copyright © 2006 Academic Psychiatry. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission.


Through time, the ideal body image type has altered greatly.  Women used to be wholesome and natural, never too thin.  What we see defined as beautiful in the media is often how we aspire to look ourselves.  Unfortunately, the media often features models and actors who are extremely thin.  Then, magazines often airbrush the celebrities featured to make them seem even more perfect.  Even dolls like Barbies, which are played with by young children, have a "perfectly" formed body. The idea of beauty portrayed in the media is causing a downfall of health, including eating disorders.  My stance is that i feel as though media influence and the idea of being perfect is stirring a lot of controversy and i don't think it is fair to portray beauty in a particular way.




2. Children and Divorce
http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1991060700&type=hitlist&num=2


Jost, K., & Robinson, M. (1991, June 7). Children and divorce. CQ Researcher, 1, 349-368. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/


The divorce rate has increased and continues to increase through time.  It obviously causes distress on the parents, but children have strong negative side effects to the split as well.  I feel sternly about this topic because my parents are divorced, so i understand how it feels to be a child and witness the heartbreak of it all.  However, both of my parents are both much happier now, so i argue that divorce can have a good influence on children.  By seeing my parents happy and being able to spend time with them separately, i have grown closer to each of them.  Also, it has turned me into a more independent person and teaches me that people can not force themselves to stay married to decrease the chance of turmoil in a family.  If the parents are happy, it diffuses through everyone.  Therefore, despite the beliefs that parents should stay together for kids because of the negative psychological and behavioral effects it will have on the children, i have an argument against it.


3. College Costs Gone Wild
http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/?shr=t&csi=224239&sr=HLEAD(College+costs+gone+wild)+and+date+is+May,%202011


(05/16/2011). "College costs gone wild". Investmentnews (New York, N.Y.) (1098-1837), 15 (20).


College costs keep rising, which will cause a significant debt among students from their student loans.  I think the idea of college costing more and more is unfair.  As an out of state student at a public university, I currently have to pay at least double the price that in-state students do.  On top of that, to get accepted to a state school when coming from out of state is a much more competitive process.  I think this process is extremely unfair.  Students come to college to gain success and hope to retrieve a career upon graduation.  However, no money will be made if the tuitions continue to rise because we will simply be paying off our debts instead. 

Blog #9: Compare/Contrast

Life Water vs. Vitamin Water

Both of these drinks are healthy alternatives to soda, and have a variety of colors and flavors.  But how does the design make them different?

Life water- Life water gives more of a animalistic feel.  With a lizard practically crawling up the bottle, it almost feels as though when you drink it you will be part of "life" or part of nature; hence, the name of the drink.  The bottle has curves in it, with the design like a twist.  This design almost gives the bottle a better grip-format, making the person drink more comfortably.  The colors on the drink look almost tie-dye and make the bottle look fun.  This bottle has a colorful, fun, innovative design.  The outside appearance of the drink covers the actual liquid itself so you can not see through the bottle.  There are many different elements to the bottle keeping the person drinking it interested.  The title of Life water is written across, with "life" bolded.

Vitamin Water- The design of Vitamin Water is extremely structured and simple.  With a wide shape it keeps a somewhat geometrical appearance.  Also, there is only three colors ever included in the design.   Usually it is black, white, and the color that matches the color of the drink.  The drink can be seen through the bottle, and that is where most of the color is shown, it is translucent unlike Life Water.  For newer zero calorie type of Vitamin Water, the colors vary.  Yet, the design is still simple.  Unlike the Life water, the colors are in one place and do not blend into a tie-dye form.  The text is easy to read and structured, and actually includes a humorous story.  Each flavor represents a part of health and the story goes along with that, keeping the person drinking it occupied and possibly laughing.  Also, opposite of Life Water, Vitamin Water is written up the side, with "vitamin" bolded.

Blog #8- Establishing merit and criteria for evaluations

Blackberry

1.     For my critical review I chose to evaluate a product.  I am evaluating the blackberry device/software.  It merits evaluation because it was a big phenomenon throughout my school, and the popularity remains on the Penn State community. The advanced technology of blackberry made it revolutionary, which also grants it merit.  With built in applications, and a soft-ware that appeals to both young adults and businessmen alike.  Also, new models of the device, as well as new software updates are coming out constantly which keep the product new.  However, I, and many other blackberry owners, are unhappy with he product as it constantly seems to freeze and have issues. Therefore, blackberries could also be classified as controversial.  For these reasons, blackberry gains merit for evaluation. 

2.     The category that this product falls in is a cell-phone device.  It is functional and valuable.  It is not cheap and it is even more expensive due to the media/network plans that are required to have with a phone.  I will compare it to an iPhone, because it is another big contender as a phone, and it is the top competitor in my opinion to a blackberry.  A droid is also another option for comparison.  Almost everyone I know that has had a blackberry now has an iPhone and has so many less issues.   I personally want to make the switch from blackberry to iPhone.

3.     Criteria:

a.     Is the messaging software good?  Bbm- Blackberry messenger is an application that seems interesting, yet it has issues.  Owners of this device can chat in an exclusive way by sharing one another’s pins.  However, many users don’t even use this application because its only slightly different than texting.  So many blackberry users have changed their phones too, leaving you with no bbm contacts.  People often times steal one another’s phones and send broadcast messages- which means they are sent to all contacts- and they are unnecessary and stupid.  Other times, they are fake warnings about the system shutting down or something.  Then everyone gets afraid and the warning message goes viral through blackberries.  Another issue with bbm is how it freezes easily due to the slow server. 

b.     Can it be used easily?  Frozen, overload of applications- I constantly have issues with my blackberry freezing. When locking my phone I used to have a password.  There were so many times I couldn’t even get into my phone without having to take the battery out and reload my phone.  Turning the phone on and off takes forever and I constantly have to do it.  Other times, my phone just freezes while I’m in the middle of doing something and it is extremely frustrating.

c.      Is it durable?  Easily broken- This past summer, my phone broke extremely easily.  It fell off a shelf and shattered, and then it didn’t turn back on.  I lost all of my contacts and had to get a new phone.  Another friend of mine who owns a blackberry had hers break because she walked with it in the rain.  The rain completely caused it to stop raining.  It seems like those who own blackberries have more than one because they are always having issues.

d.     Does it have extra applications that make it more worth the value?  Applications- The Blackberry has horoscope applications, music applications, and other random applications for our enjoyment, but they do not match well with the iPhone’s.  The iPhone now has more advanced technology and applications, allowing us to video call people from our phone or print something wirelessly from the phone.  These applications are compatible with those of a mac or an ipod, which also make them more useful in daily activities.  Blackberry applications do not have much use and they often times cost money.

e.     How does the appearance add to the phone?  Small screen- with all of the things to look at while using the phone internet, it is really difficult to accomplish these things on a small screen.  Blackberry users constantly have to scroll and zoom in order to see they’re entire message or page they are looking at.