1. Blog 4: Since your next paper will be a rhetorical analysis, a way of thinking that many of you
might not be particularly familiar or comfortable with, I feel it is important to give you folks the
opportunity to practice more. So, look at the "Photographs of Japanese-Americans at Manzanar"
by Ansel Adams (pgs. 130 - 134) and answer the following questions:
Ansel Adams Photographs (Pick One Photograph)
Where is your eye immediately drawn when you first look at the picture? Why?
What does the image depict? What is the setting? How is the image arranged visually?
Why do you think you're being shown this? What is the purpose?
What is your emotional response after viewing the image? What makes you feel that
way?
What is the larger cultural context surrounding the image?
As it says in the introduction to these photographs, Adams coached the people on how to
pose. Why do you think he did this? Does this affect his credibility?
(My Response)I chose the "Bridge Game" photo. The first thing that caught my eye was that it was all
women playing a game. I also noticed that you can only see two out of the four faces of the women, both
of which are smiling. The setting is in an internment camp during World War II. The image depicts four
Japanese women playing a bridge game. They seem to be enjoying themselves. Also, it seems as though
all four women have different occupations. One of the women looks like she is in a nurse's outfit, one looks
like she is wearing the same dress as the seamstresses from another picture, and the other two are in
dresses. I think the purpose of the picture is to show that the internment camps allowed the Japanese to
live equally to the Americans not in the camps. It is demonstrating that the women were allowed to choose
their own occupations and clothing, as well as have leisure time. In addition, the larger cultural context
shows the Japanese living "normal" lives; normal meaning the same as the Americans not living in camps.
I think the picture is a justification for the Americans, making them feel that they were doing the right
thing. The picture also makes it seem that the Japanese were happy with their living situations. Personally,
the picture angers me. It makes me feel like the government is making the camp seem like something it
isn't. They wanted to make the world think they were doing the right thing, but in reality it violates
ethnical freedoms and is discriminating. The government assumed all Japanese were spies and involved
with the war, in turn forcing them into the internment camps. This is unjust and racist. The fact that
Adams coached the people in the picture directly affects his creditably. I think in doing this he is less
creditable because he basically posed them the way he wanted. He wanted to show that they could enjoy
themselves seemingly at their own schedules. Basically he was depicting the Japanese living the same
lives as the American whether it was working a job or having leisure time. He demonstrates the Japanese
having their own freedom, even the women.
Blog 5:In previous postings and exercises we've discussed your writing process, now I want
you to describe your research process. What type of sources do you use when you have a paper
that requires research? Do you use the Internet? Periodicals/Magazines?Scholarly
journals?Books?Documentaries or other forms of media?A combination of everything? Does
the type of research you do depend on the assignment? What do you think is the benefit of a
certain type of source (ex. is the Internet beneficial because you can access a lot of smaller bits
of information quickly? Or is a book more beneficial because you have more in-depth
information? What about other types of sources)?
Next, I want you to look at the following two websites: http://www.gatt.org/
&http://www.wto.org/ . Which website do you think is the real "World Trade Organization"
website? Explain and justify your answer using specific examples.

2. (My Response)Whenever I am writing a research paper, I usually use a variety of different sources such
as the Internet, encyclopedias and other books from a library, newspaper and magazine articles, and the
news on television. The sources I utilize depend on the type of research paper I am writing. In one
research paper I wrote about the conditions and effects of throat cancer. For this paper, I used an
encyclopedia as well as many medical books. I also used many different websites containing information
from doctors including their opinions and treatments. The most useful source for me is the Internet. The
Internet provides thousands of sites and pages in a matter of seconds. The downfall of the Internet is its
creditability because it is sometimes difficult to locate where the website was originated and who was the
creator. However the Internet is a great source because it is timely and efficient. In turn, books are also
valuable sources because the author is clearly stated. Also, books can sometimes be more factual and
provide more information about one particular subject. Whenever I am writing a research paper about a
current issue, I feel it is important to include different views and standpoints. For example, I may utilize a
celebrity's point of view from a magazine and also include a more political stance from a newspaper. A
book can be more useful for a research paper about a disease. I think the http://www.wto.org is the real
website because it seems more creditable right down to the background colors on the website. It looks
more professional and organized. This website also provides links about different functions within the
company such as "trade negotiations," "Implementation and monitoring,"dispute settlement," and
"building trade capacity." There is also a copy wright on the bottom left of that page. The
http://www.gatt.org website looks like a homemade site that has little information.
Blog 6:Locate two valid online sources, read them, and post an "annotation" for each. An
annotation consists of the citation (i.e. how the source would be documented on an MLA works
cited page), one paragraph summarizing the source (if it's a research study you need to show
how the authors got their results, what their results were, and why they did the study), and a
second paragraph explaining how you will use the source in your Rhetorical Analysis Essay.
“Violent Video Games Desensitize Youth to Crime”,
(My Response)My first source is
RetrievedJanuary 27, 2013 from
http://www.examiner.com/article/violent-video-games-desensitize-youth-to-crime
This website provides that fifteen year old boy turned blue and passed out after playing "Call of Duty" for
five hours straight. It shows the effects of video games on children, mostly negative. It provides great
details of violent video games which will be useful for my paper seeing as I am writing about a "grand theft
auto"commercial.
Call of Duty is similar to grand theft auto in that violence is in every level. I can use this source to compare
findings about the effects on children.
My second source is
“The Effects of VideoGames on Children: What Parents Need to Know”, Retrieved January 28,
2013 from the Pediatrics for Parents website:
http://www.pedsforparents.com/articles/2791.shtml

3. This source is a website for parents, making them aware of current situations regarding their children. This
site has many facts about video games from the number of hours played by children to the way video games
have evolved over the past 30 years. This site also shows the behavioral and psychological affects that
violent video games have on children.
This source will be helpful to include facts in my essay. Also there are many quotes I can use from scientists
showing the negative effects violent video games have on children.