How to Fight Poverty

http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-a-woman-worker-living-in-poverty-is-looking-through-garbage-for-plastic-32026217.html

It is true that working conditions in factories around the world are not very good, but it is better and way more sanitary than searching or recycling plastics to sell for a living. As the author of “Where Sweatshops Are A Dream”, Nicholas Kristof took a strong stand on how the US government shouldn’t be fighting against the foreclosure of many Sweatshops, especially in Asia.

Kristof begins his essay by directly addressing to president Obama and his team about labor standard. The author does so in a way that is very authoritative with visual emotions when he referred to a well-known literary work, Dante’s Inferno, to describe how some families, mostly composed of woman and their children suffer from poor conditions of living which almost equals to Dante’s description of Hell. That was the problem the author identified. The purpose of the author writing this essay is to convince the American government that while they think that they are helping to eliminate “oppressive sweatshops”, they are actually causing the poverty rate to go even higher, with many children and women in famine hoping that one day they would be lucky enough to end up in Sweatshops where “At least the work is in the shade. Here it’s hot” says a 19 year old woman who searches for plastic for a living.

In most of the essay the author uses  logos which is the appeal to logic and he also used a very authoritative tone to make his point. At one point, he alluded to Dante’s inferno, and quotes from actual victims to be more persuasive and make his claim more believable and credible in some way. The author refutes by agreeing to the fact that “Labor Standards can improve wages and working conditions, without greatly affecting the eventual retail cost of goods.”

Finally the author concludes by stating the fact that how it is hard for many Americans to accept sweatshops can actually help diminish poverty around the world because of the labor conditions but the author also used another direct quote that has an appeal to pathos which can persuade any audience especially when it has to do with suffering kids.

The overall argument is very effective and I do agree with the author. He uses different rhetorical analysis components to convey a very important message and persuade the authorities to stop fighting sweatshops.

Post#5

Violent Media

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/14/us/politics/trump-charlottesville-left-right-react.html?mcubz=0

According to Gerard Jones, Violent media can actually have positive effects on young people. I totally disagree with his statement because the media has a strong impact on our society and in specially now days with the uproar of technology, whatever happens reaches the people more quickly in a matter of seconds. And because of the way certain stories are covered by the media it can cause an unnecessary up-rise that could have been avoided if certain words were not used or if certain images were avoided or displayed more carefully.

While covering a story, all the media really cares about is how they can own the story and make it big so their audiences can grow. They don’t necessarily think about who actually maybe watching or a better way to cover the story without making anybody feel something that could eventually lead to a violent outcome. Sometimes as a family when we watch the news, my little brother asks certain questions that are very disturbing concerning racial issues and police brutality. As a kid, he sees the world as black and white, he does not think trough certain issues nor does he see them as an issue. If we do not explain to help the actually reality of things, he may grow up looking at certain groups of people in a violent way or thinking that all police officer kill black men and women.

I do not think the media cover their stories fairly. There’s no media that is not biased. In the Charlottesville, VA, a couple of weeks ago there was two groups of people of opposite views that were marching but somehow things got heated between the two opposite groups and led to a brutal outrage. However, because of how the story was reported, it can easily trigger a violent response from anyone, because violent media triggers a violent response.

The Power Of Images

https://stockfresh.com/image/3283075/single-tree-growing-out-of-pages-in-magic-book

As I search the internet for interesting stories to read, the first thing that I look for beside the title is an interesting eye capturing visualization that goes with the article. Sometimes our curiosity of the image led us to be interested in articles that may be talking about shenanigans. There are no doubts about that how powerful an eye capturing image can be. It always gives more power to whatever it is a part in.

When reading an only text essay, it is usually long and full of fancy vocabulary words that can easily put you to sleep or kills you with boredom especially when the subject does not interest you. But with vivid and lively images, the whole process is less painful and more enjoyable. Without even words, images can tell the story. And sometimes just one picture can worth more than a thousand words. Just one image can describe a whole event and the message is usually very powerful because it can be seen.

There is no doubt that when it comes to conveying a message a picture essay is better, but sometimes to have an only word essay is good with critical thinking when you’re trying to visualize what the essay is saying. The relationship between an only word essay and a photo essay is that is a photo essay, the image is conveying what the text is saying; they go hand and hand just like in Article 32&36: ''Children must be protected from economic exploitation from hazardous work and all other forms of exploitation."

The photo above represents knowledge. It shows a tree growing out of a book. At first there are the roots of a tree which represent the foundation of knowledge. As we go further into the book, the more the tree will grow with knowledge. This particular image is effective because in life because  as we grow older our knowledge of life gets better and better with time.

The Power Of Arguments

http://en.writecheck.com/blog/2012/12/04/the-art-of-writing-an-argument-essay
Whenever two parties are argument, each party is more concerned about what they believe is right instead of hearing each other’s reasons for disagreeing with the other. According to Merriam Webster dictionary, an argument is a coherent series of reasons, statements, or facts intended to support or establish a point of view. There are many different ways and form to argue. On the daily basis, people use arguments as a way to get their point across. But most of a time, it is not a safe way or a positive way to argue because screaming; shouting and foul words are used. And that kills the purpose of the arguments, because even if reasons were used during the argument, they will become less valuable because of the way the argument was formed. Humans in general have a tendency to attack anybody who opposes their values in believes. And that is how arguments are formed. There is never a winner in an argument.

In an argument, people usually go by what they believe is true instead of using logic and reasons to persuade the opposite party. A positive way of arguing on a hot topic would be to hear your opponent’s arguments first and try to understand why they believe what they believe is true then try persuading them otherwise while not using name calling or hurtful words. It is also good to know who your opponent is, what they stand for, and what their weaknesses are.

Arguments are useful ways to fight what we stand for, but it’s more beneficial if the argument is done in a positive way.

Post#2

The Impacts Of Social Media

http://www.trickswindow.com/seo/positive-impact-of-social-media-on-seo/

Because of social media, we are just a text away from friends and family, but, yet we’re so distant. Social media has impacted our society both positively and negatively. A few years ago, social media did not have this much impact on our society. Social networking was only used for the purpose of business and marking. Very little advertising was even done on the network. But with the creation of smartphones and the easy access to the internet, social networking has boomed. Now a day, we have dedicated our whole lives to social media. We have more than just adapted to this lifestyle that did not exist decays ago; it’s a part of our daily lives. For some people, it can even be said that without social networking, they don’t have a life. And that is the sad part about it. We live now in a society that follows the trend of daily posts, likes, re-tweets, and shares. It’s like a roller coaster, there’s never an end to this. It’s very rare now to see people sitting and actually have a nice conversation without pulling out some type of technology. It’s more than a distraction or a habit. Social media is a new drug that is more addicting and more dangerous than the common known drugs. And now our youth are exposed to it so early.

Just like any other arguments, social media has its pros too. Life is more efficient with the use of social networking. Businesses have more to offer since they can track the reviews of their products what the consumers like. Lost friend can be found through the social networking. Anything that happens around the world can be known in minutes.

It is obvious that our society cannot function anymore without social media, but we should not enslave ourselves to it either.

Post#1

About Me

My name is Khadidiatou Ba. I am from a small country in west Africa called Senegal. I moved in the United States five years ago. Moving in States was not easy at first. My biggest challenge was the language barrier because in my country French is the official language. Till this day I still struggle with comprehension. Adapting to the new living conditions was a challenge too. I remembered being homesick all of the time. But I knew, from the moment my plane landed, that this is a country of opportunities, and so far so many doors have been opened for me. I can see a very bright future for me at the end of the tunnel as long as I put my mind into whatever it is that I want to accomplish.

I have a passion for health. That is why I want to major in Global Health. My dream job is to represent any international non-profit organisation in one of the countries in west Africa. I want to be able to impact the world, most specially in the health field. I want to be able to develop a better health system for third world countries and participate in major science researches such as Cancer and HIV.