Counterintuitive Fall 2024

Reflective Statement

Core Value I. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

With technology taking over the writing practice, it is now easier than ever to apply social and interactive practices to my writing. Throughout the semester, all of my writing was conducted on a blog providing instant availability to not only my professor, but to my class as a whole. With instant access to everyones anonymous work, I was able to take advantage of not only the feedback provided to me but the feedback provided to anyone who submitted an assignment. Overflowing with feed back, I found myself going back and editing substantially more than I ever imagined. This recursive process of development was most prominent on my first piece of work of the semester, Stone Money. This work needed more revisions than any other piece simply because this was my first essay of the semester which I wrote lacking some key writing skills. This was easily corrected though, with the mountains of feedback and unique in class lessons that were always at my fingertips.

Core Value II. My work demonstrates that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

I reflect my new found ability to synthesize individual ideas into one elaborate argument through my research proposal. This paper was written over the course of the entire semester and nearly nothing that I originally started with remains; yet through the lessons learned and constant revisions, I was able to combine 3 unique papers into 1 effective claim. Each individual argument took its own stance, yet together, they spoke as one. This provided my readers with a unique balance of research and rebuttal in which they were left to form their own accurate opinion about what the military looks for in its recruits. I am fortunate enough to have firsthand experience with the military allowing me to easily paint the picture for my audience. This added touch allowed my papers to communicate with each other giving me a piece of work that I could not be more proud of.

Core Value III. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

My visual rhetoric provided me with an awesome opportunity to literally rhetorically analyze a commercial without hearing the message they were trying to portray. Through analyzing the video frame by frame, I was able to come to a conclusion about the overall message of the video. To do this, I picked apart every scene to gather as much information about the message as possible. Attention to detail was crucial here in that if I missed one small aspect, I could completely miss the whole point of the video. The lesson in this piece of work was interesting because I learned how important every detail is to the audience of a video, and therefor a reader.

Core Value IV: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

While trying to find sources to back up a proposal that hasn’t been talked about all that much, I found difficulty. My issue was not the lack of sources available to me, but instead, being trapped and incapable of thinking outside the box. My escape to freedom didn’t come with a topic change, it came from a random Facebook post from someone complaining about how difficult it was for them to be accepted into medical school. While medical school is very different from the military, they have similarities, one of them being the high attrition rate. Sources were scarce relating to the military but were abundant when it came to medical school and by relating the correlation between the two, my proposal came together easily. Access to any academic source can provide a great advantage to a paper, even when not directly speaking about the topic at hand. For this reason, my bibliography is filled with sources that have nothing to do with the military, yet clarify my point more than experience ever could.

Core Value V. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

Respect is due where it is earned. This common phase is passed around the military like none other and goes well with the writing community. Providing a source proper credit is crucial in the effectiveness of the argument being made. If lacking, the argument could be delegitimized resulting in a loss of trust between the author and the audience. Though my citations were a bit shaky in the beginning, I was quick to change any bad habits I had throughout the semester. Citations are crucial and even work to the advantage of the  author. Citing legitimate academic writers throughout my research proposal gave my paper an edge. Along with that, I avoided any skewed data that could mislead my readers. I provided all of the information available to me to my readers to that they could form their own appropriate opinion about the subject at hand.

1) -Monitor on Psychology. American Psychological Association, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article goes into great detail discussing the understanding of hate crimes and how to prevent them. It focuses on specific event that could have led to both the rise and falls of hate crimes in America and how to prevent them.

How I used it: I used this article to help me expand my understanding of hate crimes in general. It helps me understand the meaning and reasons behind most of the hate crimes and ways we can learn as a society to prevent them. Having a deeper understanding of the overall topic help you analyze the topic even deeper.

2) -North, Anna. “When Your Commute Includes Hearing ‘You Don’t Belong in This Country’.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 24 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article describes the everyday racism and harassment citizen of New York City have to go through every day. People on a daily basis being blamed for terror attacks, also the usual racial profiling for all nationalities. It goes into detail about the daily struggle of those people who face harassment.

How I used it: I used the article to help me understand the difficulties regular people face every day, in populated areas. This article really shined a light on how average people are harassed and abuse every day for the color of their skin and by the way they dress. Getting judge based on your culture has become a social normality and its only getting worse.

3) -“Hate Crime Laws.” The United States Department of Justice. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article describes the laws and judicial reviews regarding real life situations and cases.  It goes into detail on some of the most controversial cases in United States history and how they relate to hate crimes. It also describes the laws and right that were created or influenced by hate crimes.

How I used it: This article describes the legal rights and issues surrounding hate crimes. By it going into the history of cases that were influenced by hate crimes, it expands my background even deeper. I used many of these cases as examples in my paper as it is hard evidence that involves hate crimes. Overall, having any legal documents or cases is the best source of information.

4) -Soros, George. “George Soros: When Hate Surges.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article shows the surges of hate that happened across the country when Donald Trump was elected President. How his views on immigration caused a national uprising, and how his influence led to more hate crimes across the nation.

How I used it: This article helps me bring in a modern day twist to my paper. With Trump being the most recently elected President, it is the best modern day example you can have. Also, this was the most controversial election of all time, and it caused marches to appear all over the country. I used these example to show how Trumps ideology is bringing more hate crimes into American society.

5) -“There Is No Such Thing As A Hate Crime.” A Libertarian Future. N.p., 27 Aug. 2015. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article describes how hate crimes should not exist because they only cause more of a divide in society. It goes into detail on how government should appeal certain laws to make cases more fair and not a race battle.

How I used it: This article brought a whole new mindset to hate crimes and my paper as a whole. It opens up a whole new side of hate crimes that is sometimes ignored by society. It biggest aspect is how is discuss how all crimes are hate crimes and calling it a hate crime only leads to separation and more conflict. This gave a knew outlook to my mindset and my paper.

6) –Anger and Racial Politics : The Emotional Foundation of Racial Attitudes in  America

Background: This article goes into detail about the attitudes of citizens on hate crimes and how the government deals with them. It provides some first person examples that help give a real world opinion on hate crimes.

How I used it: I used article to describe how the people react to hate crimes across the nation. How most of them are angered and upset with our government as a whole. I used this article in my paper to most of all help me synthesized in the Trump aspects and judicial aspects in previous articles.

7) –Hate Crimes and Ethnoviolence : The History, Current Affairs, and Future of Discrimination in America

Background: This book goes into great detail on all aspects of hate crimes. From the legality of it all, to the way it effects our society. It gives an overall understanding and analyze of hate crime form the past, present, and future.

How I used it: I used this book to help me give an outlook to the reader on how hat crime ca develop. I go into detail on how hate crime started and how it has grown overtime. With it now being a growing problem, it’s only going to get worse in the future. I go on to explain what hate crimes can turn into, but we still have a chance to prevent them.

8) –Discrimination Across the Ideological Divide: The Role of Value Violations and Abstract Values in Discrimination by Liberals and Conservatives

Background: This article describes how politics and the divide it has, can impact hate crimes in our nation. The, red and blue divide has become so great it is effecting our society and racism and harassment in our nation.

How I used it: This article gave me a huge understanding of politics and their effects on hate crimes. I used this article in my paper to help expand on the impact Donald Trump has had on hate crimes in our nation. Our political system has become so corrupt, it has led to an increase violence across our nation and the political system need to be fixed.

Core Value I. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

I have shown perseverance and openness in developing ideas, especially in my research paper, by researching the many different perspectives on my issue. I then used each side to develop my own unique thesis. By reading several different articles thoroughly to gather my thoughts for my writing, I have used reading and composing as a way to think and explore ideas. I have identified an awareness for multiple writing practices by completing assignments that varied from each other. For example, I completed a number of assignments that have displayed different aspects of writing including visual rhetoric, a semester-long research argument, and creating summaries of academic articles. To demonstrate responsiveness to readers’ feedback, I took the feedback on writing and incorporated in when I when revised my work.

Core Value II. My work demonstrates that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

To interpret and understand writers’ messages, I composed an annotated bibliography that evaluated sources that were used in my research argument. For each source, I described its backround by purposefully summarizing it, and I also listed how I used that particular source. In my research paper, I synthesized these different texts to develop and shape my own ideas. I didn’t just pick a side in a controversial topic, but instead I looked at both sides and created my own. I realized that a text can develop its own meaning, and can that the way a text is interpreted varies between individuals.

Core Value III. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

In my Visual Rhetoric assignment, I analyzed a 30-second public service announcement to express its main purpose to my readers. I analyzed this thoughtfully, and did more than just describe what I saw on the screen in a particular second. I gave meaning to these things by making conclusions based on the visuals in front of me. I also used the visuals to describe what audience the ad was focused on. For example, my ad was about drunk-driving prevention, so my audience was to people over the age of twenty-one who drink alcohol. Most of the people in my ad were young, so to be even more specific, it was targeted to young adults who were over the age of 21 to stop them from driving a car while intoxicated.

Core Value IV: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

When locating academic sources to us in my definition argument, causal argument, and rebuttal argument, I mainly used Google Scholar and the Rowan library databases. After developing the main idea I wanted to use, I evaluated the sources I found. To evaluate my sources, I would read over the information after I already knew the main ideas I wanted to discuss, so that I could be sure the sources were going to be useful. By evaluating sources, I also recognized that there are different types of information, different ways to find information, and different ways to interpret information. I gave credit to the authors of these sources by making a works cited for every assignment, and by informally citing them throughout my writing.

Core Value V. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

I recognize and justify my own point of view about the social topic I picked since I backed it up with evidence from credible academic sources. Since social topics can connect to people emotionally, it’s important to show respect for another point of view. By not completely shutting out another person’s point of view, you will also keep them engaged in your writing. I acknowledged and showed respect for different views/opinions of others in my writing by finding sources that go against my argument in my research paper in my Rebuttal. I tried to clearly and briefly express the complex ideas that I gathered from my sources. I always informal cited the author’s work when discussing ideas from my sources.

Core Value I. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

What I have taken away from this Composition II course is to take constructive criticism and apply those comments and modify my paper to a higher quality. Our first paper, Stone Money, I received many comments especially on my citation. I was not use to doing in-text citations the way the professor wanted it. I was able to apply this criticism to future papers while writing my first draft. Using a blog format for this class allowed us to have unlimited access to ask for revisions and feedback. I was able to adjust my paper accordingly to the strength and evaluations of the sources. I have learned that writing is a cycle of discussing, writing and revising.

Core Value II. My work demonstrates that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

Throughout this composition course I learned to use correct grammar and language that would attract readers and not offended anyone. I was able to look at topics from many different perspectives and not go in with a “tunnel vision” mindset. I took multiple authors perspectives that had generally the same opinion and made one main point and then elaborated using each individual authors claim. For our Visual Rhetoric assignment we had to take every few seconds of a video and analyze what was occurring. This helped me understand why people do what they do. I was able to  apply what I learned from the visual assignment to all my future papers.

Core Value III. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

Analyzing different types of texts and how they were interpreted was common in this class; I gained the ability to sufficiently examine many types of writing and break down the meaning behind it. I wrote an Causal Argument about the Dangers of Social Predators on Facebook. I had to discover the consequences of not protecting your social media accounts and putting the correct types of privacy settings. I found many real life stories and used those to give my readers a visual argument as well.

Core Value IV: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

Where and how you obtain your sources are vital to achieving a well-graded paper, in this composition class I mainly used sources that were from articles or journals. In  class we did multiple exercises talking about weather a source meets the criteria to be credible, reliable, and accurate. In all three papers, I have taken sources done from studies and journals to justify my topic. I understand how critical information is when writing, identifying and choosing the right information and sources are the hardest part. Sometimes the first articles and websites you are attracted to might not be the most reliable and should be left behind. Your sources can be the deciding factor between receiving a average grade and a superb grade.

Core Value V. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

With any piece of writing comes ethical responsibility and power, one must be well aware of what they’re expressing because there can be consequences. College level courses address serious topics that were controversial in many ways. I had to write with an open mind and from many different opinions and perspectives. For our Rebuttal Argument I had to come up with a counterintuitive topic, and refute it. This was tough because I have never heard of the word counterintuitive before this class. Exploring the ethics of writing and its consequences was done through the process of writing all my papers for this class.

Core Value I. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

One of the key things I felt I learned this semester is how important it is to explore when you are writing.  I have never research a topic as much in my entire life as I did for my paper on Planned Parenthood.  Not only did I find that doing research on my topic was important, but I also discovered that to be successful in your writing you need to study other people’s writing.  That is why I am so glad that everything was online this semester because it gave me a chance to look at what my fellow peers were doing, and if there was anything I could learn from their writing to help mine.

My favorite short essay that we wrote this semester was the visual rhetoric.  This assignment was one that really made me observe and look at fine details, which in the long run helped my writing.  I really enjoyed this assignment because it made me think.  I was forced to look at the minute details in the video I chose, and use these details to infer what people were thinking.  It made me think more in depth than I really had about any of my writing beforehand, and I feel my writing improved after this assignment.

Visual Rhetoric- chancetoremember

Core Value II. My work demonstrates that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

This semester, I truly enjoyed doing research on the topic that I chose to do my research analysis on.  I chose to write about Planned Parenthood, which was an organization that I thought I knew a lot about.  After reading many articles and visiting the Planned Parenthood website, I discovered so much vital information about Planned Parenthood, which really made me enjoy writing about it.  By doing so much research this semester I was able to really create a strong thesis and argument for my research paper.  I felt that I came out with a very strong thesis, and I was able to provide a lot of backbone for my thesis.  This was the first time I have ever written a research paper where I felt that I really covered all points of focus in my thesis in a descriptive and successful way.  If you look at my thesis I truly believe it gets my point across.  I used all internet sources, including videos, articles, and websites to gather my information, which is the main reason I believe I was able to develop a strong thesis. https://rowancomp2.com/2017/04/19/research-argument-chancetoremember

Core Value III. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

One of my main goals this semester was to try not to make my opinion come off as too abrasive in my work.  The main thing that I took away from this class was that you cannot force other people to have the same feelings and opinions as you.  The only way to persuade someone through writing is to be respectful of other arguments, but disprove them in the long run.  In my research paper I felt that in my rebuttal I was able to take down the opposing argument in a factual and respectful manner, proving my point in a successful way.  In order to have someone see your point of view, you must see theirs as well.  It is important to look at an issue from all sides, and to make sure to be respectful of all parties involved.  If you offend your audience, your work is basically a failure because the reader already wrote off your opinion.  https://rowancomp2.com/2017/04/19/research-argument-chancetoremember

Core Value IV: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

Overall, I discovered that knowledge really is power when it comes to writing.  The more informed you are on a subject, the better your writing will be.  Also, the more informed you are on something means there is a better chance of you proving your point and gaining the reader’s approval or agreement.  At first in the semester I did a lot of my writing without doing enough research.  With my Stone Money paper, I pretty much failed on the research aspect, which caused me to get a bad grade.  Then when we started to focus on our research paper I decided it was time to do more research and back up my arguments.  I started to get B’s and C’s instead of a D like I got on Stone Money.

Stone Money- chancetoremember

Causal—chancetoremember

Incorporating research into my writing was key for my success in this course.  I felt much more confident about my writing after I did research on a topic, and it overall made it easier to write if I really had a good grasp on a subject.  Reading clearly and taking in all different types of opinions is extremely important in being a good writer.  I found reading my research clearly instead of just trying to skim an article for key words was much more helpful than just looking for certain points.  It is better to expand your knowledge then to just keep it limited to what you personally want to hear.

Core Value V. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

This semester for me started off slow, with me not caring as much about my writing.  I thought it was okay to just do the bare minimum to get by, and I really did not care about learning more about topics I had to write on.  Choosing to write about Planned Parenthood was the best decision I could have ever made this semester to help my writing and ethical thinking.  I chose to write about a topic that I did not realize I would become so passionate about, which in turn would make me appreciate other people’s research and writing on it.

For such a sensitive topic as Planned Parenthood, it was essential to make sure that I fact checked everything I was reading.  There is so much false information out there, especially on Planned Parenthood, that it became very important for me as a writer to cite and source everything.  This way when I cited articles and videos, I could go back and double check my resources with one another.  For instance, when I wrote about Stone Money, I did not do a good job of reading the Stone Money article, which in turn led to bad writing.  I did not grasp the subject nearly as well as I thought I did, so my writing suffered.  I should have fact checked the things I was saying in my writing and looking at other sources, instead of being so quick to jump the gun.  Also, I learned how crucial it is to cite your sources.  At first I did not do the best job of doing proper citations, but now by the end of the semester I finally feel that I have grasped it.  I want to be able to give all of the sources and authors that helped me write my research paper to get credit for their work, which is very important in the code of conduct as a writer.

Stone Money- chancetoremember

Research Argument-chancetoremember

Core Value I. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

I met this first core value throughout the semester in all of my papers because I was able to make rough drafts, revise, edit, and improve my writings based on feedback that I was given. I took that feedback into consideration and continued my research and writing until I had the best version possible. I learned that the first draft of any paper that you will write will be far from perfect and will always need some sort of improvement, no matter how well you think you have written it. An example would be in my Rebuttal Argument because I misunderstood the prompt and wrote a whole first draft using the wrong format. After receiving feedback and clear instructions I was able to go back and fix my mistake and make a better argument. It was still not perfect so I revised it multiple times and continued my research for it to make it the best version I could.

Core Value II. My work demonstrates that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

For the second core value I was able to demonstrate it in my writings by reading and synthesizing tons of sources ranging from articles, movies, newspapers, and databases. I learned how to take meaningful value out of what I was reading and made sure to incorporate the important information in my papers. For my Definition Argument I had to read various articles on the background and history of whales and I had to decipher which information was important by synthesizing ideas from various sources and then combining the information that had the most meaning into conversations in my paper. I looked at various sources ranging from articles that agreed with my thoughts to articles that disagreed with my thoughts and they were both very helpful to read.

Core Value III. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

For the third core value I was able to demonstrate this by keeping my audience in mind when I wrote my papers and by making sure what I was saying was in an appropriate context for my readers. I also made sure to use the sources that best suited my audience so that the readers could relate more. I made sure to use proper word choice and style that would make it easy for my readers to understand the points that I was trying to make. In my Visual Rhetoric I wrote my descriptions of what I was seeing in full details to make sure my reader would be able to get a picture in their mind without having to see or hear what I was watching. I made sure to chose my words carefully and to use a lot of imagery to allow my audience to see what I was seeing. I made sure to include the smallest of details because they could be important for my reader to know to be able to fully understand the visual.

Core Value IV: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

In order to demonstrate core value four you have to research your topic and find articles that are valuable to your argument. This means that you have to learn the importance of evidence to support your own ideas and interpretations of the texts that you analyze. You have to be able to locate, evaluate, select, and incorporate appropriate information from the texts to be able to develop a paper that will have good information from reputable sources. In my Causal Argument I was able to read a variety of sources and incorporate them in my paper through quotes and summaries of the articles by giving credit to the author. I was also able to develop my own opinions on what I was reading and use that as well throughout my paper.

Core Value V. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

For the fifth core value I was able to understand that writing includes gathering information and reading material from other sources. You have to be able to represent the ideas from sources through citation and academic honesty. When you want to incorporate something that is not your own words you have to credit the author through a proper citation. To demonstrate this I was able to recognize and justify my own point of view by writing my own thoughts and then citing the thoughts of someone else through a quote and a citation in the works cited page By doing this you have to ethically include credit for the words of the sources that you are citing. I was able to demonstrate this core value in my Research Argument by including a works cited page at the end that listed all of the sources I used information from. I also included various quotes throughout my paper by giving credit to the author and the article by introducing what I was going to quote.

Core Value I. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

For the topics in this course, the exploration of social and developmental ideas were the main goals in the end. assignments like A05-Visual Redirect  had me explore a topic down to a Tee and read in between the lines for something as short as a minute long video. Along with in class discussions, these topics and assignments were posted on a blogging platform, which not only allows feed back from my professor, but also my peers. Thoroughly exploring a topic, getting feedback, and editing it, is a recursive  and social process that is necessary for a good, meaningful set of writing to come about and without it, multi-sided views or ideas would be left to a personal bias. And no one can truly learn from that.

Core Value II. My work demonstrates that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

The ideas that we discussed were not simple ideas, they were deep complex social issues that required a view from all sides in order for a good piece of work to be molded and formed. Taking topics and issues from multiple discourse communities, combining views, and layering these ideas were needed to create a thoughtful piece of work, ideas couldn’t have just been slapped together.  Things like A10-Research Argument required an in-depth looks into all sides of a discourse in order to properly voice my opinion within a text. Synthesizing ideas is the key to creating a good piece of work, if someone has a biased opinion, readers will either absolutely love it, or completely hate it, so taking the views from all sides is key.

Core Value III. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

My work throughout the course has always been intended to reach the audience of the relative topic but that requires a couple analyzing sessions to make sure that it does. Assignments like A04-A Blow to the Head required me to rhetorically analysis to make sure things like my opinion did not get in the way when writing the topic at hand.  Going over, and re-editing assignments like A04 was needed to make sure no extraneous details or unintended audiences were reached.  Making sure that none of my writing got off-topic, lacked context, or did not reach the audience in mind was the key goal in mind when writing, analyzing, and editing my work. And while it may not have perfect, my work achieved this goal in some way.

Core Value IV: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

Assignments like Definitive Paper, Causal Argument, and Rebuttal are good examples of this value. Proper research and incorporation into these works were key to making it a legitimate ideas, and thoughtful essays. This helped because, these three minor assignments went into the final Research argument paper, and with the included research from each, it became a legitimate idea. but these were big tasks on their own too, Locating the correct, trustful academic sources for these works were needed to really push the idea i had in mind when writing each. as writing should go, the right sources make the right paper, and while someone can write a compelling piece of work, having good sources may tip the scales for some people.  proper research makes proper papers.

Core Value V. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

Presenting work in a non-biased, ethical way is necessary for presenting any form of idea. Disrespect or bias does not compel the reader to go further and may dis-way and upset them. When writing about a topic, one must see all sides of the issue, no matter how one sided it may look. If not, you get an unwanted two-cents clogging up the discourse in question. this became apparent to me when writing the very first assignment A01-Stone Money.  Reading about a different cultures form of currency, many ideas came to mind, but when writing them and seeing how biases or personal thoughts gummed up the writing, it became clear that this needed to be written from point where i could compare what i knew to what there knowledge was without bias.

1. Bressert, Steve, Ph.D. “Borderline Personality Disorder: Symptoms & Treatment.” Psych Central. N.p., 06 Mar. 2017. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

Background: This source goes on to explain the symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder and the diagnosis of the disease.

How I Used It: I used this source to read up more about Borderline Personality Disorder and incorporate that into my essay.

2. Cornwall, PhD Michael. “I Don’t Believe in Mental Illness, Do You?” Mad In America. N.p., 30. Sept. 2015. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article is about the Michael Cornwall’s argument against mental illness, and how it’s more madness than illness. He goes on to explain how he doesn’t believe that medication should be used for the illnesses which he doesn’t even believe in. He argues that they are human rights abuses, the force of medication for mental issues. He also goes on say he is prejudiced against his beliefs that mental illness isn’t real.

How I Used This: I used this article in my rebuttal argument to argue against what Cornwall says about how mentally ill people are simply mad, because they are not mad, they are ill. They have a disorder and refute Cornwall’s arguments by using my own personal experiences with mental illness.

3. “Cost of Not Caring: Stigma Set in Stone.” USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, 12 Jan. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article goes into the effects of no one caring about mental illness and how it takes a toll on the mentally ill all escalates the problem rather than fixing the issue.

How I Used It: I used this article to explain the negative effects of the stigma and how it is affecting the mentally ill community and making it harder for them to receive the help they need to manage their illness.

4. Davey, Graham C.L., Ph.D. “Mental Health & Stigma.” Psychology Today. N.p., 20 Apr. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

Background: This article goes on to talk about the stigma itself against mental illness, and how prominent it is. It explains how society is a large factor in the stigma and how the attitudes foster discrimination towards people with mental health problems. It explains what the stigma is and gives information about studies that stigmatize. It also goes on to explain who holds the stigmatizing beliefs, what factors cause stigma, why it matters, and how we can eliminate stigma.

How I Used This: I used this article to let the readers know what the stigma is and how we can work on eliminating it. I explain how the factors of stigmatizing someone with a mental illness can lead to them doing unthinkable acts towards themselves and not reach out for help because of the fear of being discriminated against, which leads into why the stigma matters in this day and age.

5. “The Effect of Stigma.” See Change. N.p., 29 July 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

Background: This article tells the effect of stigma and the impact it has on society and the economy. It lists what the effects of each piece of the stigma is effecting today’s society in a negative way towards the mentally ill, and then in an economic way which explains how the mentally ill are effected financially as well.

How I Used It: I used this article to use statistics and information about how the mentally ill population has a tough time getting through in the world. They do not have the same advantages as the neuro-typical population and this article helps me explain that.

6. Gluck, Samantha. “Stigma and Discrimination: The Effect of Stigma.” Healthyplace. N.p., 29. Dec. 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

Background: This article explains how the stigma on mental illness effects those with mental illness. It goes on to explain how they are discriminated against and the toughness they deal with in coming forward about their illness.

How I Used It: I used this to explain to my readers how tough of a time mentally ill people have in the world due to the stigma, and how it can worsen their illness by keeping them in the shadows.

7. Hosier, David, MSc. “Borderline Personality Disorder – 3 Infographics to Help Explain It.” Childhood Trauma, Borderline Personality Disorder, CPTSD, Hypnosis and Recovery. David Hosier MSc, 16 Nov. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

Background: This source goes into detail about one of the most stigmatized disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder. It gives statistics, facts, and stigmas against the illness.

How I Used It: I used this one to explain the severity of borderline personality disorder and the effects it can cause on those who have it. It can affect their lives for the worse, myself being one of them.

8. “Mental Health Medications.” National Institutes of Health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Oct. 2016. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Background: This article goes into explain the medication piece of mental illness. It explains what certain medications do and the different kinds that can be prescribed to the patients.

How I Used It: This article helped me prove how medication plays a key role in mental illness, and the legitimacy of mental illness because of the medication that goes into helping the symptoms be controlled.

9. “Mentalism (discrimination).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Feb. 2017. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article explains what Mentalism is, a form or discrimination and oppression towards the mentally ill.

How I Used It: I used this article to explain what mental illness discrimination is and how it can affect the mentally ill populations lives.

10. Tracy, Natasha. “Biological Evidence for Depression – Mental Illness Exists | Breaking Bipolar.” HealthyPlace. America’s Mental Health Channel, 7 Apr. 2011. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Background: This article explains all of the medical and technical terms and explanation of mental illness and the medications, genes, and statistics that go into it.

How I Used It: I used the article to prove that there are medical and physical factors that go into the realness of mental illness, such as serotonin levels, genes, and neuroimaging.

11. Wyatt, Randall C. “Thomas Szasz on Freedom and Psychotherapy.” Thomas Szasz Interview. N.p., 2001. Web. 04 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article is a rebuttal against mental illness. The interviewee goes on to explain how mental illness does not exist which is perfect for my rebuttal argument.

How I Used It: I was able to argue against Szasz on his views on mental illness by disproving his claims in my rebuttal argument.

12. Personal Experience

Background: Through my own personal experience with mental illness, I’ve come to learn that the early stages of coming to terms with a mental illness can be the most difficult because you are afraid of the stigmas. You’re afraid that no one will understand or they will brush it off and you won’t get the help you need.

How I Used It: I used this in my causation argument with the “hypothetical” situation the girl is in. I tell about how she has an illness but she’s afraid of the reactions of her friends and family so she refuses to get help. She then attempts suicide, so that goes on to explain how the stigma can end lives even.

13. Personal Experience

Background: One of my friends told me a story about how she was denied to go on her senior trip, even though she had paid for it, because she had attempted suicide. Even though she was out discharged from all of her programs, in school full time, and considered stable, the school wouldn’t let her go. She was also not refunded.

How I Used It: I used this as a starting point in the essay to start thinking about how the stigma affected my friends, mostly as a set in stone piece of a reasoning that the stigma does exist.

14. Personal Experience

Background: In my therapy program there is this man, who shared his life story during the 1:15 PM group in the end of the day. He went on a shared how because of his illness he lost his job, he lost his home, and he lost his family. He was living on the streets of New York City, searching for food, a place to sleep, etc. His bipolar disorder and depression was something that held him back, and not many people were understanding of it. It was a powerful story that made me think.

How I Used It: I was baffled when I heard the story and how this man was being treated because of his illness which made me pour more passion into the essay in itself.

15. Greg Miller, Therapist at Princeton House, Young Adult Process Group

Background: This is a simply fact but I found it very powerful. 75% of all Americans have some sort of qualification for mental illness.

How I Used It: I used it to open my essay to open up people’s minds about the subject at hand.

1. Benderly, Berly. “Psychology’s tall tales.” American Psychological Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Background: This is one of the articles about the myths surrounding Kitty Genovese. It explains some of the misinformation and rumors of the murder.

How I used it: This article helped clear up misconceptions about the murder.

Gansberg, Martin. “37 Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 26 Mar. 1964. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

2. Cherry, Kendra. “What Is the Bystander Effect?” Verywell. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article explains the bystander effect and why it might occur. It claims that the diffusion of responsibility causes the bystander effect. When people are in a group, each person feels less pressure to act. It also explains what was discovered in the smoke experiment. People in a group look at others for the proper response. If others don’t react, then people assume the proper response is not to do anything.

How I used it: I used it to learn about the bystander effect and why it might happen.

3. Cillizza, Chris. “Americans read headlines. And not much else.” The Washington Post. WP Company, 19 Mar. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article explores how people get their news. The majority of people only read the headlines of news articles. This means that headlines are very influential to the public’s opinion because it is the only information many are getting.

How I used it: This supports the idea that the misleading headline of the Genovese article heavily influenced many people’s perception of the murder. Most of the original readers probably only looked the headline.

4. Ecker, Ullrich K. H.; Lewandowsky, Stephan; Chang, Ee Pin; Pillai, Rekha Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, Vol 20(4), Dec 2014, 323-335.

Background: This study showed how headlines can can be misleading even if they are true. It shows that headlines can influence what a reader remembers and gives them a bias.

How I used it: I used it to explain that the title of the infamous article written about Kitty mislead people and affected their perception of the event

5. Jung, Nadine, Christina Wranke, Kai Hamburger, and Markus Knauff. “How emotions affect logical reasoning: evidence from experiments with mood-manipulated participants, spider phobics, and people with exam anxiety.” Frontiers in Psychology 5 (2014): n. pag. Web.

Background: This study shows how emotion can affect our memory and how we think. Negative emotions caused participants to perform worse on cognitive tests.

How I used it: I used this to argue that negative emotions affected the ability of readers to form reasonable conclusions about the Genovese murder. The headline of the article would induce negative emotions from the reader and impair their mental function.

6. Konnikova, Maria. “How Headlines Change the Way We Think.” The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 17 Dec. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article gives more information about misleading headlines. Readers remember claims in headlines even if they are not proven in the article.

How I used it: This is more support for how the famous headline mislead people.

7. Latane, Bibb; Darley, John M. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 10(3), Nov 1968, 215-221.

Background: This is the smoke filled room experiment. It showed that people were more likely to report the smoke filling the room if they were alone.

How I used it: It supports the existence of the bystander effect and shows that people look to others before deciding what to do. It shows that people act differently in a group.

8. Lenhart, Amanda. “Cell phone ownership.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. N.p., 18 Mar. 2012. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Background: This article shows that in 2009, the majority of teens had cell phones

How I used it: Since most teens had cell phones, they could have easily called the police to stop the rape at their prom but didn’t.

9. Levine, Mark , Clare Cassidy, and Gemma Brazzer. “Self-Categorization and Bystander Non-intervention: Two Experimental Studies.” N.p., n.d. Web.

Background: This study explores how people react differently based on who the victim is and who their fellow bystanders are. The study found that bystanders are more likely to take action if the victim is part of their in group. It also found that bystanders are more likely to take action if the other bystanders are part of their in group. This study helps explain why groups don’t help a victim. They can see a victim as part of another group and feel less responsibility for them. When the other bystanders are part of the out group, each person is not sure what is expected of them and often don’t do anything.

How I used it: This study helped me to understand why people don’t help someone in need. It shows how people treat someone in their group vs someone outside their group. I use it to help explain the inaction of witnesses in some cases.

10. Lickerman, Alex. “The Diffusion Of Responsibility.” Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 14 June 2010. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article explains the diffusion of responsibility. The more people that are present the less each person feels responsible for doing something.

How I used it: This is another explanation for the bystander effect.

11. Worthen, Meredith. “Kitty Genovese.” Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 05 Apr. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article give information about Kitty’s early life and what she did before she was murdered.

How I used it: I used this to learn more about her earlier life.

12. HeroicImaginationTV. YouTube. YouTube, 13 May 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

Background: This video explained the murder of Kitty Genovese and gave background information to the murder.

How I used it: I used it to gain more information about the murder.

13. “Police: As many as 20 present at gang rape outside school dance.” CNN. Cable News Network, 28 Oct. 2009. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

Background: This is a news article about a rape with bystanders. A 15 year old girl was gang raped by up to 10 people outside a high school dance. 10 other people watched without intervening or calling the police. She was found unconscious, in critical condition, by a cop. The cop was called by a person who had heard kids talking about the rape.

How I used it: I used it as an example of the bystander effect.

14. “Solomon Asch’s Experiment on Conformity.” Psychminds Everyday Psychological Discussions. N.p., 01 Sept. 2013. Web. 1 Mar. 2017.

Background: This is the Asch’s conformity experiments. They showed that even when a person is certain they have the right answer, the person will often conform to the group’s wrong answer. This is important in understanding group dynamics.

How I used it: I used this to explain why the bystander effect happens. Even when a person wants to help they look at others not helping and decide not to help also. It shows how powerful group dynamics are.

15. York Times, 26 Mar. 1964. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Background: This is the infamous Kitty Genovese article.

How I used it: I use the headline to show that is is misleading and would invoke negative emotion. I also use it to show how it misleads people and contains wrong information.

1. Hargreaves, Steve. “New Reports Shows 70% of Those Born Poor Stay Poor.” CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 13 Nov. 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2017

Background: This CNN report goes  into detail on how hard it is for those in poverty to gain more wealth. It gives stats and percentages to back this claim. According to the study done, only 26% of those who come from a low income rose to the middle class, and 4% rose to the high earners income bracket. A mere 70% of those who come from low income households stay in the income bracket. The stats showed how difficult it is to rise from dirt poor to filthy rich.

How I Used It: I used this article to showcase how not everybody in America has the same chance to succeed. Those who come from low income households are almost guaranteed to stay in the poverty income bracket. The government has created a system so the poor don’t become wealthy. Through tax loopholes for the rich, high cost of college, and poor government assistance programs it has become extremely difficult for those in poverty to become successful .

2. Tavernise, Sabrina. “Disparity in Life Spans of the Rich and the Poor Is Growing.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Feb. 2016. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.

Background: This New York Times article discusses the issue of life expectancy difference between income brackets. It demonstrates, that even as more medical advances are discovered, the difference of life expetency continues to grow.  This showcases that medical coverage is not accessible for everyone in the country.

How I Used It: I used this article in my essay to help demonstrate how the inability to move up income brackets is not just a question of lavish things.It is an issue of life quality and life expectancy. Medical care has become more of a privilege than a necessity and many can’t get covered. The poor of America have a much different quality of life than everybody else.

3. DeSilver, Drew. “U.S. Income Inequality, on Rise for Decades, Is Now Highest since 1928.” Pew Research Center. N.p., 05 Dec. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.

Background: This was an article about the results of Income inequality through a survey  done by the Pew Reasearh center. The stats show how Income inequality has been on the rise since 1980, and it recently it has hits highs not seen since 1928. It also shows that Income inequality has showed no signs of slowing down.

How I Used It: I used it in my definition essay to back up my claim that the government is not interested in helping all Americans. As shown by the Income inequality rise, the poor are becoming more forgotten by the day. As long as the wealthy get richer, the government is all right with the econmomy distribution amongst all Americans. It is another example on how not every American has the same opportunity.

4. Groote, Michael De. “Getting Unstuck: Why Some People Get out of Poverty and Others Don’t.” DeseretNews.com. Deseret News, 10 Nov. 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

Background: This article published by Desert News describes why only very few people of the poverty income bracket are able to escape the burden. It describes why it is so difficult to get out of the poverty income bracket. The article then describes why those who escape poverty do so.

How I Used It: In my caual argument, the article helped my claim that it all the tools to become successful are not available to the poor. Most of the people stuck in the poverty income bracket work hard, but the system is against them. The few who do make it out of poverty, are very fortunate.

5. Politifact, and The Other 98 Activist Group. “Meme on Democratic Senators and ‘big Pharma’ Is Misleading.” @politifact. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.

Background: This brief article gives the amount of money many senators have been given by pharmictual companies since 2011. This demonstrates just how much of a hold the pharmaceutical companies have on the government.

How I Used It: I used this in my definition essay to illustrate why many in the poverty income bracket can not afford their necessary medications. I pinpointed New Jersey Senator Corey Booker as an example of someone in the government who has been payed off by the pharmaceutical companies. I pinpointed him because he has been given the most of any democratic senator and he is also a representative our state of New Jersey. This article gave a good example of how the government docent can about the poor and their freedoms.

6. Edelman, Peter. “Poverty in America: Why Can’t We End It?” The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 July 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article discusses the extreme poverty rate in America, and what needs to be done in to fix it. There is a huge problem with income inequality in America. Half the jobs pay less then $34,000 a year.There are many in the 1% who make that in a day. Higher paying jobs need to be restored in the country in order to  cut into the poverty rate. This poverty have signifially less opputuities to be successful so they often can’t get out of poverty. Poverty causes a lot of the unequalness, and fixing this can set America in the direction of truly the “land of the free”

How I Used It: This article helped showcase (in my white paper) my hypothesis. It shows what needs to be done to exterminate Income inequality. It shows how the government knows this and still docent care enough to do something about it.

7. McWhorter, Ladelle. Racism and Sexual Oppression in Anglo-America: A Genealogy. Bloomington, Ind: Indiana UP, 2009. Print.

Background: This book discusses how in Anglo America,oppression has been going on for generations. This oppression has always mattered on one simple thing, genealogy. Many races and gender have been oppressed simply because of who they are, their genes. They are discriminated against and segregated. African Americans were forced into slavery, women forced into house work among others.

How I Used It: I used this in my purposeful summary to showcase another type of inequality that existed in America. African Americans have always been given significantly less opportunities simply because of the color of the skin. It helped my hypothesis that America isn’t really the land of the free.

8. LongD, Heather, and “. “U.S. Inequality Keeps Getting Uglier.” CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 22 Dec. 2016. Web. 06 Mar. 2017. http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/22/news/economy/us-inequality-worse/

Background: This CNN article discusses how income inequality keeps on getting worse, creating an extremely ugly situation. It shows how because of this the once prescribed American dream is becoming just a dream.

How I used It: This article showcases my argument of modern day slavery. The common man aren’t able to move up in the income brackets because all the money is going to the wealthy. The government wants it like that as it is demonstrated the alarming income inequality rates.

9. Edwin D Rios. “These 11 Charts on Income Inequality Will Make Your Head Explode.” Mother Jones. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.

Background:  This article from Mother Jones is another great collection of charts that shows the severity of income inequality in America. It describes in depth that while the economy is good on paper, it is actually in bad shape overall. In fact the economy is only good for the top 1% of average salaries.

How I Used It: I used these charts for another example of the severe problem that Income inequality has created. By having a good economy on paper and more job growth, the government gets to continue their goal of getting themselves richer.

10. Flows, Capital. “Is America The Land Of The Free?” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 06 Oct. 2016. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

Background: This Forbes discusses the actually freedom of America. It discusses the actually economic freedom of America, and shows that there really is none. As America is 16th on the economic freedom list, a list where America used to be 1.

How I Used It: I used it in my rebuttal argument, to counter the claim that America is the  most free country in the world. I was able to prove my these with this article

11. Lederman,Rea.“Defending the Dream: Why Income Inequality Doesn’t Threaten Opportunity.” The Heritage Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

Background: This article gives multiple examples on why America is so great. According to the article, it gives opportunity for anyone to achieve.

How I Used It: I used it as a rebuttal to my hypothesis. It shows multiple reasons as to why America is still the land of the free. However, I gave examples to disapprove the article’s claims.

12. Steven W. Bradley. “Steven W. Bradley.” The Academy of Management Perspectives. N.p., 01 Aug. 2016. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

Background: The article discusses that entrepreneurship in America has been on a steady decline since 1970. this again is due to the declining economic freedom in the country

How I Used It: This showed another example why America is not the land of the free. It also help defend my argument of the modern day slavery. Americans are losing many of  the economic freedoms they once had, as they are becoming more of slaves of the government than free men and women.

13. Peter Reuell, Harvard Staff Writer |. “For Life Expectancy, Money Matters.” Harvard Gazette. N.p., 11 Apr. 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

Background: This Harvard study shows the significant life expency difference between different social classes.

How I used It: This was more support in my claim of the dangers of the income inequality in America. It shows that money means everything in America, even though money is necessarily available to all.

14. If You Don’t Think Americans Have Lost Our Freedoms, READ THIS.” Washington’s Blog. Washington Blog,

Background: This article goes into detail on how Americans have lost their rights and freedoms guaranteed by the amendments. It details every amendments of the bill of rights, and how each one has been violated. For example, the article gives the example of the first amendment. The first amendment gives the right to freedom of speech; however, people are being arrested for speaking they mind.

How I Used It: I used this article in my white paper. I used it for one of my working hypothesis on how America has become the land of the unfree. However, I did not use this in my reasrach argument, as I chose another hypothesis.

15. “20 Facts About U.S. Inequality That Everyone Should Know.” Inequality.com. N.p., n.d.

Background: This Stanford publication gives 20 facts about income inequality in America. it shows why CEOs make so much and the common man doesn’t

How I Used It: I used it to show how the government allows loopholes for the rich, but these same loopholes can not be used by others to get more wealthy.