WHATEVER

This break I boxed so much that my lips hurt from getting hit.
This break I ate great food.
This break I felt like I worked more than rested.
This break I saw all of my family (even the ones I dislike).
This break I drove a car 120 miles per hour.
This break I dislocated a friends finger (and took him to the hospital (see above)).
This break I beat the neighbors in a holiday light competition (and posed like Santa for little children).
This break I drove my truck more places than I want to think about.
This break I nursed a cat back to life.
This break I watched my favorite holiday movie (Bruce Almighty (not a holiday movie)).
This break I wanted nothing more than to stay on break (Christmas come fast).

Proposal

Unit 3 Proposal

My team and I came up with a great topic and some great ways to make an argument for it. The issue we chose to enter the conversation of is the NFL fining players for helmet to helmet hits. Our stance on the conversation is that the NFL is becoming soft and needs to go back to its roots of good hard hitting football. Our primary audience's are Roger Goodell, the NFL's Commissioner, NFL fans and the NFL players themselves. In addressing these different audiences we have three different ways to reach them. We will write a formal letter to the Mr. Goodell expressing why the fines are excessive and some other preventative measures in addressing player safety. We want this letter to be formal and informative because he is the commissioner. NFL fans, we think we can reach with a billboard ad showing our stance on the fines we feel are making the NFL soft. Finally in addressing the NFL players we will make modified jerseys showing what the league will turn into if we keep fining players for playing good hard nose football.
The only thing I see being a problem for my group is that we have some grand ideas but I'm not sure if we can accomplish all of them. The team gets along great and given enough time and effort we will be very successful.

In class: reading

This week's reading is about visual arguments. It covered numerous topics such as color, organization, many ways to appeal to ethos, etc The most interesting was the one about the Mercedes. The author describes how you want this car for its looks and the genius marketing strategies attached to the product. The way the car zooms down a winding road, at sunset with people who look much happier than you. Now you don't just want the car you NEED it.
The way that I will apply this to my project is the color aspect. I will try to convey a lighter and even sensitive side of the NFL, in a way almost using a mocking technique. By using the color PINK throughout the presentation, especially for a "Brutal and Tough Men's Sport", the idea of a weaker game will be presented. Also by focusing on the comical aspect of a PINK jersey the argument will appeal to the audiences' pathos- by appealing to the comical stance of the argument. By doing this the audience will be more inclined to agree with our ideas.

General job descriptions

Austin = Visual creation
Will = paper work
David = presenter

Notetaking/Recorder:
All
Discussion and Planning:
Will
Revision
Will
Presentation
David
Prep of Visual
Autsin
Presentation
David

The action item for this week is to come up with topics for a vote that will take place today.

In Class: what I learned

In the reading last night I learned that making arguments from the perspective of the presenter is more complex than simply analyzing the argument. When you are the one who has to argue FOR something, not only do you have to know the audience, but also figure out how to speak to them. Targeting was one part of the reading that interested me, if a presenter is able to hone in on the audience and appeal to their pathos and logos, through his ethos, then an argument or product will be persuasive.

Job Title

I am very happy with my group and job title. I will be helping the group create the visual media as well as recording the daily activities. These are my main focuses but I will also be contributing to overall action of the group.

In Class: ideal group work situation

I have experienced some terrible group projects in my life, but if I had to chose my perfect group experience it would have to start with everyone contributing. I would like the group members to ALL want to make the same grade I do (an A) and understand that it will take a lot of hard work to gain this grade. Some people are not as motivated as others, and this is problematic when a person needs to accomplish a certain grade, but the project relies on the other people efforts. I would also like the group to comunicate well, this way everyone would be on the same page.