Freewrite 7

Based on the evaluation criteria handout, I believe an A paper would be one where the author establishes a clear message, portrays that message as well as the direction of the paper in the thesis, and putting credible sources into conversation with the ideas and message at work. The author successfully does this through the paper and makes his message known that racial injustice still occurs in society. He also includes an evolving theses statement, “Yet, while many school and city officials in Eustis feel that they are creating and maintaining an impartial public space, the institutions for which they work may actually still be perpetuating an environment of racial injustice” (1). His thesis statement lets readers clearly know the topic of this paper is institutionalized racism and the remainder of the paper is going to about how it is and in what ways institutionalized racism exists.

The author also did well to remove bias from the paper. It was only after I finished reading the paper I realized I couldn’t really detect any bias from the author. There was a good use of information from both primary and secondary research throughout the paper. The primary research consisted of interviews that gave light to certain perceptions of problems or lack of. Which was then followed up by secondary research that strengthened the claims of the author’s inquiry topic. The author was able to provide statistics as well as testimonials to back up his claims about Eustis town schools, which added to his credibility and only boosted his ethos throughout the paper.

I enjoyed the paper very much and was successful in getting me to think about this topic. However, I found that the author did work through his point he did have a position towards proving institutionalized racism existed and presented facts and numbers that aided his cause. Some transitions were also not as strong or smooth as they could have been but not enough to affect the grade. This research paper had a clear message that was represented throughout the paper with well-presented quotations backing up the author’s claims.

Freewrite 6

My initial inquiry question stemmed from reading about security in public spaces, reading Steven Flusty’s article “building paranoia”, as well as my own observations of my hometown and how more and more homeowners are securing their homes. When I was home for spring break, I noticed that an increasing amount of houses in my neighborhood have increased or taken visible “security” precautions for safety. In class we discussed securing public space and cameras all over cities, which I was also able to observe. There were cameras on top of many stoplights and police parked around and walking through parks.  This led me to asking the question, what is the cause for people to secure their homes? I wanted to know if there was a justification for securing our homes or if we live in a culture of fear.   Through my research thus far I haven’t changed my inquiry question. I’ve only come into more questions that aid in my goal of working through my inquiry question.

Coming into this topic, I did not know what my primary research would reveal. I consider this a bonus because it restricts me from typing an argumentative paper.  The most surprising find was that there are gated communities for all types of economic classes in America. This definitely goes against the stereotype in America because the public considers gated communities to be for the upper class.

In my research, I found that there are many different reasons why people secure their homes, such as fear, by experience or upbringing, but at the same time found trends and patterns that hopefully will lead me to some answers. The most important component of my research has been the interviews because I was able to really talk and find out possible concerns and fears versus a short survey where all that is left are the words. Through interviewing, I was able to ask citizens more detailed questions that I will look to answer further upon completion of my secondary research. Thus far, my research seems to be lining up. I’ve been fortunate to not have any conflicting information because my inquiry question is broad so a new reason or trend for home security creates a new topic to explore. This way I can follow where my information takes me but also pose questions that come up in addition to my process of research.

I’ve had a couple of original ideas; such as it is in human nature to have a secure home. Many animals in the wild build their resting places in areas hard to get to for intruders, for instance birds building nests in high trees or animals that burrow in the earth for shelter from predators.

Thesis:  While 9/11 resulted in substantial destruction of life and property its effect was an increase of public security but had limited to no effect of personal security.

Rhetorical Analysis

1a) The author of my first source is Haya El Nasser. I wasn’t able to discover much about her background other than she is a journalist for USA Today. The majority of her articles are on society and housing developments. The source that published the article is USA Today, which is a newspaper accused of shallow reporting and criticized for having conservative views. As far as I can tell, the affiliation toward USA Today does not cast doubts about the article.

1b) The intended audience for USA Today would be average citizens that are looking at the latest news. Since it is a national newspaper there is a national audience but the USA Today website is available internationally. Having the backing of a national newspaper I believe that Nasser and USA Today would assume the audience trusts them to put out credible reliable information.

1c) The purpose for the website is a news media outlet designed to inform American’s about the happenings throughout the country. The journalist released a story that went against the “common knowledge” of gated communities in society, which is newsworthy for the public. The source’s purpose was to write an in-depth article about the workings of gated communities.

1d) The source is valid, reliable, biased, comprehensive, relevant, outdated, controversial

2a) The author for this article is Edward J. Drew & Jeffrey M. McGuigan. After doing some research I was unable to find anything about the authors. The article is posted on the International Foundation for Protection Officers. The IFPO is a foundation that would support gated communities because protection officers work in the gates. Based on the article I don’t believe the affiliation challenges the writers’ authority.

2b) The primary audience for IFPO’s website would be any citizen interesting in applying for that job. This limits the audience because that group is made up of middle to lower class citizens. The authors would assume that the people that read that article are interested in moving to or learning about living communites.

2c) The IFPO is a home base for registered protection officers. It provides industry testimonials, educational programs, and FAQs about becoming a protection officer. The author’s weren’t in line with the website’s purpose but rather gave an objective outlook on the safety of gated communities.

2d) The source was valid, credible, balanced, comprehensive, relevant, outdated

Throughout the public, there’s often a notion that gated communities are reserved for the upper

Primary Research

1. I want to explore what is causing people to secure their homes and why companies and governments secure public space. There have been many articles written about this issue but none of them are relatively recent. Seeing that we are now in 2010, and spaces are increasingly becoming secure, I would also like to see if there are differences between the previous articles written and if securing spaces has anything to do with time periods.
2. I plan to get the core information for my essay by interviewing various people in and around my neighborhood about reasons for securing homes and policemen to find out about public space cameras. I’ve spoken with two people thus far and have gotten interesting results. When I’m done with the primary research, I should have a diverse group of interviewees that will bring me closer to solving the issue of securing spaces.
3. The people I’ll interview will be from my town or surrounding towns and selected according to their homes. I want to interview people that have all different types of security and also people that live in towns without a community  but rather live individually.
4. I’ve lived in my town my whole life and have established many contacts in the area. I also have family contacts that I will be using to speak with the police about public space cameras.
5. I do not really have biases in the topic. I’m exploring it in pure interest and do not have a preference of where my research takes me. I am approaching this essay with an open mind and then plan to analyze my findings through my paper.
6. To avoid biases reflected in my paper I will tell the facts and speak on the information I have gathered in my interviews and secondary research. I do plan to add my own ideas but have evidence to backup claims.
7. I don’t know what I’ll discover while doing my research, I think that after conducting the interviews I’ll have a different sense of my town and be able to get different

Secure Spaces

This is the home of Bill Gates. I chose this picture because Bill Gates is a prominent person in our time and I felt given his wealth he would have a secure home. His home is secluded in the woods with many impediments to try to go to it. In the efforts to keep his home secure, it is clear that his home falls into multiple categories that Flusty has identified for secure spaces. It is a slippery space because of missing paths of approach. If the cameraman in this picture was walking he would need a boat to get to the house. It also classifies as a stealthy space because the house is built into the mountainside with very tall trees and plants that take up the whole facade. The vegetation downplays the size of the house and the color and materials make the house appear more natural to the mountainside. Analyzing this picture and Flusty’s article I believe that this house is secure for other reasons than just the fear of someone breaking in. I did choose Bill Gates’ house so since he is a high profile person perhaps he would like some privacy for himself  or wants his house to look built in to nature.

This is a picture of a mall cop on a segway and a perfect example of a jittery space. According to Flusty in this case, a jittery space is a space that cannot be utilized unobserved due to active monitoring by roving patrols. This mall cop’s job is to be a presence in malls to deter and stop robbery and theft in the mall. In many malls i’ve encountered mall cops kicking kids out of malls for being unruly and enforce any other regulations the mall owners have set forth. Even though mall cops are there to catch people that break the law, the innocent people that just go to shop are still subject to being assessed by the mall cop and just like the regular police, they may have profiles, biases, or types of people they look for even though these people did nothing.

I felt this picture was appropriate because of our class discussions about driving and being monitered. Flusty would classify this as a jittery space. This light becomes a jittery space because a person driving along that stops at this light is now being video taped. The driver may not even know whether he or she is being video taped but her actions at this intersection perhaps could result in punishment if she breaks the law. I believe the technological jittery space is worse than the mall cop because as the camera tapes a citizen and sends the image back to a security station, there’s no way in telling what is done with that video tape. Although the towns that put the tapes up say that they are only used for catching criminals, similar to the mall cop, the innocent people that drive by the camera are video taped and being watched. I guess it’s like my dad told me when I was little;  he trusted me but he was always going to verify.

Perceptive Spaces

My Dorm room- Visual Space

Young Money concert- Auditory Space

Perfume Parlor- Olfactory Space

People in beach apparel- Thermal Space

Sea World’s riding with dolphins- Tactile Space

Transgressive Images

This piece of art was created by the artist Banksy. Banksy’s work is known for being satirical and anti establishment. He doesn’t want you to just look at the art he’s created but also include history, location, and surroundings in the context of his art. This piece is an image of a kid praying on his knees with the words forgive us our trespassing written on the wall. Discourses in place describes transgressive semiotics by something transgressively written on stones and walls in public places against the expectation or in violation of public expectation that such surfaces would be kept clean and ‘unpolluted’.

After doing some research on this piece I found that this piece was done in Salt Lake City, Utah around the time of the Sundance Music festival. This being the case I made the connection that the majority of Utah is Mormon and that the phrase Banksy has chosen is from The Lord’s prayer, which is in Christianity. In addition to that, the boy on his knees with his palms together confirms that “forgive us our trespassing” is a religious reference.  Since the Mormon’s do not say this prayer, it becomes transgressive art in that space. The location of the graffiti also appears to be at a construction sign ironically with a no parking sign right next to it. I found this quite comical since it’s a construction site he is literally trespassing. I also felt that since it was during the Sundance Festival forgive us our trespassing is relevant because of thousands of people visiting.

I also noticed that there was another picture on the Banksy website where the same child praying had a halo and wings. It looked like the same wall but I wonder if the context of that picture would give us any information about this one.

This add is a subway add that pictures Jared Fogle who had lost a significant amount of weight by eating subway. I decided to use this add because obesity is a leading topic among americans. Americans are constantly looking for easy fast ways to loose weight and Jared Fogle happened to be the perfect example. This add uses Jared as an interactive participant because the add is appealing to obese people that they can be like jared. That connection between the onlooker and interactive participant is what draws the onlooker to subway, gives subway the business, and in turn they’ll eventually look like Jared. I think that this add campaign with Jared was very successful because it is easy to identify with Jared’s old situation and in a quest to have a socially acceptable body type many people literally buy into this campaign.

I believe this is an icon because according to Discourses in Place, an icon is, “a picture of the thing in the world.” In the AT&T advertising campaign “More Bars in More Places” they take pictures of random objects that physically resemble the bars one would find on a cell phone. At the same time I felt this ad was also a symbol because the other pamphlets had different objects from different areas all over the world. This would convey the message meaning if you get a plan with AT&T you would have signal bars where ever you go.

This image of Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising their fists in a form of racial protest at the Olympics is a symbol. It is a symbol because the raised fist is an arbitrary association to black power and the Civil Rights movement but has no previous relation. This moment that is also captured in the picture is a symbol in itself because the Mexico City Olympics were in 1968. The picture signifies the progress of African Americans and showing support of the Civil rights movement on the world’s stage. The gesture in showing support caused a public outrage because African Americans were not well liked at the time.

This picture is an index because the numbers on the beaker signify the quantity of the liquid. In the video, “Semiotics: the study of signs”, it states an index has a causal link between the sign and the object. Thus the lines and their respective numbers are an index of how much of the liquid is in the beaker.