Hello, my name is Brittany Bower and welcome to my e-Portfolio. This portfolio is a collection of works that I have compiled as an undergraduate student at Penn State University, spanning from written works that I have composed to multimedia assignments that I have completed. These works represent how I have grown academically as an undergraduate student. Over the past year alone, I have made great strides in my writing abilities, my public speaking skills, and retaining knowledge in general. Not only have I learned to make my writing more cohesive, but I have learned how to correctly compile a research paper and even use new methods of communication, like blogging. In addition, since enrolling in the course Rhetoric and Civil Life, I have learned how to become a better public speaker. I now know different methods of organizing and compiling speeches so that they are appropriate for my target audience. Before, I was afraid to speak in public, but now I am more comfortable speaking in front of an audience. Also, over the past year, I have improved academically in my ability to remember information. As a result, I received a 4.0 my first semester this year.
I believe that over the past year, I have made great improvements in my academic abilities and I plan to continue to do so in the future. The pieces of work that I have included in this portfolio demonstrate my growing ability as a writer and also a as student. I plan to continue my education in the future and to grow even more academically throughout this time as well. I believe that the work I have included show not only my growing academic skills, but also my adaptability to different assignments and also my ability to work with other people or alone.
Click below to see my portfolio:
Brittany Bower's e-Portfolio
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Rockin' the Heels
I was working on my motivational speech today, and I came across a very interesting article about men in high heels. To be more specific, they are men of Penn State walking across campus in high heels. Wouldn’t that be something to see?
Well, for everyone who’s ever wanted to see an event such as this happening on the Penn State campus, this is their lucky month! Because April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Penn State’s Men Against Violence are holding a walk called “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” to raise awareness of sexual assault and any other types of violence inflicted against women. The IFC, the Center for Women Students, UPUA, UPAC, athletics, faculty, and staff are also sponsoring this even that will take place on April 29th and will begin at the Boucke Building. Men who attend this even will walk around campus in high heels. What is the purpose of doing this? As their Facebook page states, “By walking in high heels, men will begin to experience some of the pain that women go through. Are you man enough?”
Not only is the message behind the campaign a great one, the message it sends is even greater. It’s not every day that men get to experience the pain of high heels (most girls know what I’m talking about!) and it’s interesting that the campaign tied the pain felt while wearing high heels to the pain women suffer from sexual assault and violence. I also find it very interesting that the campaign asks men if they are “man enough” to do such a female stereotypical act as wearing high heel shoes. It feels as though it is a challenge to men to stand up for the rights of women in a new and attention grabbing way. It’s not every day that we get to see athletes and Frat boys walking around in high heels (well at least against their will!).
The best part is that the first 100 boys to sign up will get a free pair of high heels and for $10 they can purchase a t-shirt too!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
No Brainer
Most college students have been exposed to drugs and alcohol at one point or another. Whether it’s running into a fellow drunk student on College Ave. or at a football game, or going to a party on the weekend, many college students have been exposed to illegal substances. Even if students haven’t done drugs themselves, they’ve been around it or know about it.
In the following ad sponsored by Above the Influence, the issue of illegal drugs and the effects it has on young adults is demonstrated:
In this commercial, the father questions his son’s actions from the night before and claims that he doesn’t even know his son anymore. He goes on to list some of his son’s bad behaviors, such as ruining his mother’s car and breaking curfew. While his father speaks, he stands with a blank and clueless look on his face. Later, the ad goes on to show a boy, who is presumably this teenager’s friend, sneaking into the garage and handing the son his brain back that he left at the party he attended the night before.
The ad is packed with ethos that speaks out to a younger audience, which the ad is intended for. Growing up, it felt horrible to get in trouble, but the worst feeling was knowing that your parents were disappointed in you. This ad projects the image of a father being disappointed with the negative activities that his son was partaking in. Most teenagers and young adults can relate to the lecture given because at one point in time, they had had a similar discussion with their own parents. Whether it was breaking curfew, failing a test, or even as serious as damaging their parent’s car, we have all seemed to disappoint our parents at one point or another.
With this feeling of guilt in mind, the ad blames the son’s negative behavior on a party that he attended the night before. He “lost” his brain at his party, which is why he broke curfew, didn’t answer his phone, and crashed his mother’s car. The Above the Influence sign then appears indicating that at this party, drugs and alcohol were involved. For this reason, the ad says that the damage of the night could have been avoided if the boy was not under the influence.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Ad
When I was thinking of something interesting I could do for my blog this week, I kept coming to a blank. Then I remembered how interesting it was to look through different print ads and commercials that we focused on a lot in the beginning of the semester. So, this week, I’m going back to look at ads, something that I did a lot when I first started this Rhetoric and Civil Life Blog!
The ad above is for Findus Fraich’Frites. There is a lot of rhetoric going on within this advertisement, especially pathos.
We all have a Great Grandma(s) or Grandma(s). Even if they’re not around anymore, they were probably there for some portion of your life. As most people know, there are differences between most “Grannies,” but, as the ad above shows, the stereotypical classification is an older woman who makes you delicious food and even pinches your cheeks. As the girl’s eyes dart to the side, you can see her annoyance from this action her assumed Granny is engaging in. She is clearly not thrilled by this action.
This ad uses this image to engage pathos in its viewing audience. Like I stated earlier, everyone has had experiences like these wit a Grandma or even an elderly figure I their life. Seeing the Granny pinch the cheeks of the little girl reminds the viewing audience of their encounters of cheek pinching or other things their Grannies did in the past. Also, the mention of Granny’s fries reminds the audience of the delicious (well at least my Grandma’s delicious) cooking!
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get your Granny’s delicious food without the cheek pinching? According to this ad, if you buy their product, you’ll no longer have to deal with the stress of cheek pinching anymore.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Disney
All week, for our group project, my group and I have been looking through a lot of clips, songs, and pictures from popular Disney films. Seeing so many clips from these popular movies recently, I’ve realized that there is actually a lot of rhetoric in play within the movies, especially within the songs! One of the songs that I kept coming across was from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, one of the movies I watch a lot growing up.
When first watched, it seems as though it is just another innocent Disney love song. In reality, the video is filled with a lot of gender stereotyping! For one, Snow White’s song is about finding a Prince one day. (This seems to be the main topic of every Disney film I’ve ever seen growing up!) It’s not that I don’t like cute love songs, don’t get me wrong, but this song is all about how she will be happy as soon as her Prince finds her again. Why can’t she just be happy even without him there?
Although the lyrics in the song just hint at slight gendered ideas, what makes this clip more evidently sexist is that she is singing about her Prince returning to her to make her happy while she is cooking, a typical female stereotype. For years, cooking, cleaning, sewing, taking care of others, and many other domestic practices have been associated with women. In this video, Snow White is not only cooking, taking care of the Seven Dwarfs (also men), but she is singing about how a man coming I to her life will make her happy. Even though it is not directly evident that this clip is gender stereotyping women, there are still seixist tones within.
However, the context in which this video was produced must be considered when looking at the way Snow White is portrayed. At this time, many women were housewives and took care of their families and other people. So during this time, it was not really a big deal to show women in this way.
So, even though this video segment has sexist undertones according to today’s standards, but when the movie was first produced, it really was the norm.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Strage Presentations at Northwestern
When I went home for spring break last week, I was pretty out of the loop in regards to current events in Chicago. There were elections for a new mayor, a giant snow storm who many referred to as the “Snowpocalypse,” and gas process soaring well over $4.00. While looking at the newspaper to catch up on some current events, one very strange story about Northwestern University caught my eye.
After reading through the article, I was in shock. At this university, a psychology professor allowed his students in his Human Sexuality class were invited to watch a guest presentation after their class ended. This presentation, however, was not lecture. Instead, it was a live sex-toy demonstration in front of 100 Northwestern students. Although the students were told they were going to be spoken to, they were not informed that the lecture would really be a live demonstration.
Northwestern University, however, defended the professor and the presentation because they said it was educational. Many students did not object to the presentation as well, even though the general public seemed outraged by such a scandalous presentation on a college campus. Other professors also believed that this act was pushing beyond the limits of what was acceptable for a teacher to allow in their classroom.
So why is this issue so controversial? The students were in a Human Sexuality class to begin with, so wouldn’t it be assumed that topics like this would come up in class? Why didn’t the students object if they were uncomfortable or leave the demonstration? Maybe it is just older generations that don’t accept this type of knowledge and learning. There are many factors that contribute to the ongoing outrage of these guest speakers. I believe that generational difference really attribute to the outrage. Modern TV shows are plagued with sexuality and so is our music unlike many of the past. We seem to be an open generation and maybe that is why the students were so accepting of this presentation.
I was shocked by this article myself. I don’t think that I’d want to see this type of presentation on Penn State’s campus, but it seems that other students are accepting of this controversial type of learning.
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