Week 6

I am evaluating the book Religion and the American Presidency.  It is a part of The Evolving American Presidency Series.  

The editor of the series is Michael A. Genovese.  He seems so be a very credible source.  He got his Ph.D. from USC in California.  He has written sixteen books, largely about the presidency and democracy.  He holds the Loyola Chair of Leadership Studies, is a Professor of Political Science, and is a Director of the Institute for Leadership Studies as Loyola Marymount University.  He was made a Fellow Commoner at the Queens College, Oxford University in 2006.  has won over a dozen university.  He has been rewarded more than twelve university and national teaching awards.  In 2004-2005 he was the President of the Presidency Research Group of the American Political Science Association, and he often appears as a political commentator on national television.  He has lectured for the United States Embassy and is the Associate Editor of the White House Studies Journal.  Thanks to his experience, he has a very strong ethos.

This book was published in 2007, and therefore leaves out information from the past year and a half.  However, I am examining the presidency of George W. Bush, and this book covers 6 1/2 years of his 8 year span.  The was published after the majority of his time in office, so it will still be a very useful source.  I also don't have to worry about it being outdated, because it was published last year.  It offers a relatively recent and fresh perspective.

Palgrave Macmillan is the publisher, and it is an academic publisher.  This will give me the best information for my topic. It publishes books in the humanities and social sciences.

As an academic title, the book attempts to give a fair overall view of how Bush's faith affects the presidency.  The company seems to strongly support separation of church and state, however, and so may slightly lean away from Bush's faith-influenced politics.  However, the authors of the particular chapter that I am focused on both teach at Georgetown University, which is a catholic-affiliated university, so they might have a slight preference for Bush's faith-based policies.  It is difficult to determine from reading part of the book what its rhetorical stance is, which is probably a good thing, because it is giving a balanced view.

The book was intended to be used or those who would like to become more informed on the topic, rather in a strictly academic sense or for pleasure.  It is written in a way that is easy for those without specialized knowledge in the area to understand.  

This book is very helpful for my paper.  The last chapter is titled "The Faith of George W. Bush: The Personal, Practical, and Political."  I am studying the use of faith in GWB's policy's, so this is great information.  It gives a lot of background information, and mentions the effects his actions and believes have had.  There are some statistics, and quotes, but mostly there are claims made about GWB with proof that led the authors to these conclusions.  It gives information that would allow a person on either side of the issue to formulate an argument.

Week 5

After discussing the research paper in class, I realized that my previous topic was over-used.  I also got interested in a few other topics when looking at the database we went to in class.  Here are a few of the topics of interest:

Religion and the Bush Presidency-

-Are Bush's faith-based policies constructive?

 They give a moral structure to his actions and have helped in the difficult time since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001.

-Are Bush's faith-based policies harmful?

They alienate non-Christians, and cross the line of church and state separation.

This is a topic that I would love to research.  I believe that Bush has infused his own personal religious beliefs into public policy far too much.  Our nation that is supposedly built on religious freedom, but apparently this is only religious freedom for Protestant Christians.  There is much insinuation in politics that the Republican party has true values while the Democratic party has no moral compass.  I would enjoy doing research on this topic and arguing that Bush's infusion of Christian religion into his politics is biased and inappropriate.

Another topic that I am interested in is the genocide in Darfur.  Here are the two arguments about U.S. involvement in that region:

The U.S. has no obligation to interfere in Darfur.

It is the responsibility of a country that has the means to aid other countries in need.

I believe that we need to give aid to Darfur, but I know few details of the situation.  I would love to get a broader world-view by learning about this topic.

Currently I am leaning toward Bush's infusion of religion in the state for my research topic, because this is a topic I get very upset about.  Considering the political mindset on Clemson's campus, this would also be a good topic, because I would get to research a side of that situation that is not often presented in my current environment.

Week 4

It was interesting to see others' visual rhetoric assignments.  In one person's paper I noticed overly long paragraphs, with sentences that repeated previous sentences in new ways.  It was rather boring to read and obvious that this person either did not understand what he or she was trying to write, or was just writing filler in order to reach the word count.  Another person started with a good idea in his or her paragraphs, but many of them were not thoroughly developed.  He or she would not explain how it was related to the topic.  From these two mistakes I realized that re-writing the same idea in multiple sentences is very obvious to the reader and severely decreased the quality of the paper.  Also, often how ideas connect needs to be spelled out to the reader.  This is difficult for the writer to understand, because he or she has spent so much more time with the topic.  

I also learned that introducing a new idea in the conclusion can be difficult.  Some of the conclusions I read were abrupt and left me confused and unsettled.  The conclusion needs to still relate to the thesis and be fully explained. 

For my research paper I will examine persuasive arguments in advertisements both for and against tobacco use.  I am very interested in this topic; I have always been upset by the fallacious but effective arguments of tobacco companies.  When I was little I used to see posters displaying these advertisements, and I would try to cover them up so that other customers would not see them and be tricked in smoking, and therefore purchasing the product.  I was very excited to finally see visual texts promoted to the public with even more effective (and factual) arguments against smoking.

I am still formulating the stance I will take on this issue, but I believe I could point out the rhetorical methods that both sides use, while emphasizing the spurious nature of the tobacco companies' arguments.  Exposing that the tobacco companies' arguments are truly only a facade with no validity will prove the weakness of their visual rhetoric.

There are many studies conducted about cigarettes and their effects.  Online resources will most likely be the most prevalent.  Harder to find, but also helpful in my paper would be the effect of anti-smoking propaganda.

Most of the research will not be conducted in the field, although I could ask some college students (smokers and non-smokers) about how this advertising affects them.  However, I will not mind that most of my research will be archival.  

Week 3

The image was taken by Lewis Hine in 1909.  He worked as a photographer for the National Child Labor Committee, which aimed to lobby against child labor.  The picture attempts to persuade the Americans and the American government that child labor is cruel and inhuman.  Many elements in the photograph make this argument.  The girl appears ragged and unkempt.  There is dirt on her face and hands, her dress is wrinkly, and her hair is messy.  She stares at the camera with none of the naive hopefulness that is seen in most children.  Instead she looks solemn and haunted, forced into an adult world at the age of ten.  The black and white photograph with distinct contrast adds to the dramatic, somber air of the photograph.  The machinery on the left side of the image seems to extend endlessly behind the girl.  This implies that her work and laborious lifestyle will continue for many years.  This photograph depicts a person who should be in her youthful prime, innocent and bright, but due to the practices of her country, she is exhausted and jaded in the first decade of her life.  This is a powerful image that affected change in the policy of child labor in America.

I will now go through the steps to create a working thesis for my paper about this photograph.  1.  Observations-

This image depicts a ten year old girl working as a spinner at a North Carolina cotton mill.  The photograph is stark and haunting due to the expression on the girl's face and her dirty state, the achromatic color scheme, the emphasis on the large, seemingly never-ending machine, and the decrepit appearance of the building.  The photograph makes a case against child labor by showing the terrible conditions and the innocent that it steals from children.  These scene seems so opposite of the childhood most Americans would like their children to experience.

2.  Preliminary thesis statement-

The photograph focuses on the Child Labor policies in the early 19th century by featuring a young worker.

3.  More Specific Revision-

In 1909, Lewis Hine captured a photograph of a ragged young girl that makes a powerful argument against child labor.

4.  Working Thesis-

In 1909, Lewis Hine captured a stark, haunting photograph that would eventually affect change in American child labor policy through its depiction of a ragged ten year old girl working in poor conditions in a cotton mill.