RCL#5: Public Speaking Experience

Pubic speaking is commonly considered a daunting task.   For me what makes public speaking such a struggle is having to maintain solid eye contact and conveying emotion through the speech/talk. 

One of my major experiences with public speaking came at my high school graduation.  I spoke in front of a class of 400 graduating seniors and a couple thousand supporters.  For this event I had a typed manuscript of my speech that I could rely on.  Strangely, in front of a crowd of that size I felt more relaxed than I would be in front of a single classroom of people.  It may be due to how personnel it is when you are only speak to a small group.

Another public speaking experience of mine was for my high school AP US History class.  This was a completely different setting, a class of 20-30 student, and a notecard was all I had to give a 10-15 minurte talk on the controversial topic of my choice.  For this speech I was vary well prepared in that I knew a lot about my topic.  As is my downfall in public speaking I avoided direct eye contact, looking above the audience. 

While I am vary poor when it comes to eye contact, I have one strength in particular when speaking.  I will not speak to fast and I will almost never use verbal fillers.  This strength could form a strong base for speaking if I was able to incorporate solid eye contact into my speaking events.

My avoidance of eye contact is because I am so focused on remembering my information and the order in which to present it that I am scared to look anyone in the eyes.  Often times I will be in the middle of a though and I will make eye contact with someone and I will blank.  I am not sure how to fix that problem, maybe just preparing better and knowing the material. 

RCL#4: Paradigm Shift Paper Thesis

Since, July 4^th, 1776 politicians have been a necessity in the inter-workings of the United States.  Within politics there has been a major shift in who is running for office and how many terms these individuals seek re-election for.  The rise of career politicians, an individual who has makes all their money in politics, has completely changed the government of the United States, by expanding it, and making its representatives susceptible to lobbyist influence. 

Thesis: In the last 60 years there has been a steady rise in the number of career politicians, causing a fundamental shift in the relationship between the government and its constituents.

Topics: (Just to show some of my early topics to support my thesis)

-What constitutes a politician that is not a career politician
-Who the first politicians were, what jobs they held, what they believed.
-Examine early examples of career politicians

-The Flaws of Career politicians

            a. How their purpose for going to work is skewed

            b. How they can be influenced by SuperPacs/Donators?

            c. How the current political system encourages career politicians

-How have career politicians changed the government in the last 20 years?

            a. Positive

            b. Negative

-Contemporary views of the constituents

            a. They are becoming aware of this problem

            b. Example Presidential Election Primarys

Reflection:

This topic will have a lot of information to go through, I have already found many good sources detailing this shift.  The one problem is the nature of politics is that it is vary biased.  In the two party system there is always two polar sides to a topic, especially one as charged as this.  I think a difficulty in this paper will be to shift through all the opinionated articles, and synthesize my own opinion on the topic.  Of course I have some thoughts and beliefs I already hold, but as is sadly common in the United States I have not done any real research to come to these opinions.   

RCL#3: Paradigm Shifts

A shift in a paradigm is a shift in the way something is perceived or though about.  It can occur in any echelon of life, kids, science, religion, political, social, pop culture.... etc.  There are two paradigm shift this blog will be discussing, firstly a shift that has already occurred, and secondly one that is on the fringe. 

           
The paradigm shift that has already occurred is the inclusion of black athletes into professional sports.  In 1933 the NFL banned African Americas from the lague and it was not intill 1946 that this ban was lifted.  The paradigm of African American professional atheletes shifted over a period from the 1920-60.  It took well into the 60’s and 70’s for people to view this as completely acceptable.  What drove this shift in thinking what was acceptable was the civil right movement of the time.  The push for civil righst changed the paradigm about how African American were view, which translated over to professional sports as well. A paradigm that is on the fringe is how voters are leaning away form carrer politicians in this current presidential campaign.

            
The top two candidate in the Republican field, Donal Trump and Ben Carson, have never been politicians in there life. Donald is a business man and Ben was a Neurosergeon.  Yet, the constituents of the US have them rated the highest of any republican candidate.  As well as in theoretical head to head match ups vs. Hilary Clinton, the epitome of a career politician, Ben Carson wins.  This paradigm is on the fringe, which means people are beginning to shift the way they vote for politicians.  This is a result of a series of poor political performance that have been observed by the United States Population.  There thoughts are beginning to more strongly believe that politicians lie, are controlled by interest groups, and worried more about there careers than the United States.  This is what has opened the door for the this paradigm shift to be on the fringe. While this is not yet set in stone this shift is in the process and is yet to be determined a concrete paridgm shift for the United Staes, it is a shift observed in a large amount of individuals but the not the majority.

RCL BLOG#2: Rhetoric Roadblocks

Rhetoric has incurred a base connotation is society today, due to many misconceptions being presented.  “Rhetoric is characterized as empty words or as fancy language used to distort the truth or to tell lies.”  (Page 17).  This statement illustrates the general misunderstanding of the purpose and use of rhetoric.  Rhetoric is deemed useless because it is not an action, so why waste the breath?  What needs to be understood is that rhetoric is sometime the best course of action, if it is the only way to avoid violence.  It is not a didactic way to coerce someone into believing what the rhetor believes, it is simply a medium to present perceptions and opinions.  The only way for rhetoric to take place is through a two-way conversation or active listening; technology has changed the playing field of communication.

         
Technological advances that allow for email, texting and other forms of social media have altered people’s rhetoric activity.  The paradox of today's social networks is that constant and exhaustive social communication, is actually a less meaningful or productive form of communication.  It is difficult to understand what an individual is feeling through a twenty-word text or email, but people try.  Actual conversational interaction, person to person, is an endangered art.  It has been replaced by the ephemeral art that is social media.  “At home, families sit together, texting and reading e-mails” (page 14). Even families have lost the ability to invest any sort of interest or emotion in one another.  They are consumed by interacting in a way that is specifically tailored to there individual needs, strategically edited to convey themselves however they would like.  Conversation would be a nuisance and take away from forms of communication they would actually like to employ.

           
In contemporary society rhetoric is misunderstood as base, while concurrently being supplanted in peoples lives by social media. When in reality it is the way human beings were made to interact on a deeper personal and more productive level. 

True Passion Vs. Ease (CAS137H: RCL BLOG#1)

True Passion Vs. Ease (CAS 137H: RCL POST#1)

For CAS 137H a major assignment is to create and sustain a “Passion Blog” for a total of ten entries.  The point of this blog is to brainstorm ideas for a passion blog and then examine if the specific idea is practical, sustainable, and actually a passion.  My first idea is to chronicle my activities in Centre Pennsylvania, and my second is to discussion my perception regarding my experience in the PSU NROTC unit.

Idea #1

Working Title: Explore Experience Enjoy (E³) My PSU Weekends,

Potential Activities:

1. Go hiking/running at Shingle Town (Summer/Fall)

2. PSU Football Game (Summer/Fall/Winter)

3. Boating on Howard Lake (Summer/Fall)

4. Ski Tusey Mountain (Winter)

5. Clay pigeon shooting at Shenacoy or Hillendales (Summer/Fall)

6. Fly Fishing (Summer/Fall)

7. Country Club/Pool/Golf (Summer/Fall)

8. Arboretum (Summer/Fall)

9. Penn Cave/ Woodward Cave (Summer/Fall)

10. Berkey Creamery (Anytime)

11. Myer Dairy (Anytime)

12. Other PSU sporting events (Anytime)

Needs/Concerns:

For almost all of these activities I would need a car and to be provided with resources and or time of some other individual.  Not only would I need to schedule these activities with a family member or friend, I would be at the whim of the weather for a few of these activities.  Along with day-to-day weather being a problem, some of these activities are seasonal. 

Reflection#1

This subject as my passion blog could defiantly be done; I would just need to strategically plan activities to ensure that it is the correct season.  If I have a problem due to weather constraints there are plenty of activities that are available to be done in Centre Pennsylvania, my list at the moment is just activities that could be possible after talking with some friends and family.  I can assume this list will expand greatly as I become more familiar with the area.

Idea#2

Working Title: NROTC, College through the eyes of a Midshipman

Potential Topics:

1.     Freshman Drill Practice

2.     Marching in the Homecoming Parade

3.     Working Concession at home Football games

4.     Thursday Leadership training

5.     Thursday Uniform Day

6.     Battalion PT

7.     My reason for Joining initially

8.     My views after some experience

9.     Special Warfare Club

10. Naval Science Class

Needs/Concerns:

With this particular topic there are no concerns about being able to complete my potential topics, as they are a part of my college life. The only concerns are that, due to the nature of these activities, I would be unable to document them with pictures and other forms of media.  This lack of media in my blogs would hinder them. Also this topic might not actually be my passion.  I am unsure of how enjoyable and engaging it will be to complete these blog assignments upon this topic. 

Reflection#2: 

This subject will not be hard to gather any sort of subject matter for my blogs, since it is a part of my day 4-5days a week. What would be difficult is incorporating pictures or videos.  The constant grind of participating in NROTC related activities might hamper my benevolence toward the subject.  

Comparison and Choice:

While Idea#1 would probably be a much easier topic to do my blogs on, it does not expression my passion as Idea #2 does.  While Idea#2 presents some difficulties and constraints, it would be a much more enjoyable topic to pursue for myself and my readers.