Considering Genres

Finally, choosing the genre. I've been dreading this moment since I heard we had to choose, so yay!

• I decided to commit to the Quick Reference Guide for Project 1. In my Investigating Genres post, I looked into the QRG. Most QRGs have to do with presenting a news story, which is essentially what I'll be doing with Nina Pham's lawsuit. The QRG's question and answer format  will be an organized and concise way to present the sides to the argument. 

• Like I said, I will be using the subheading, question and answer convention of the QRG to present my argument. The hardest part will be keeping my paragraphs concise but detailed, and being able to include helpful links and graphics. 

• I am VERY scared for Production week. Next week is already a very busy week for me, with a few tests and all the normal homework, so I might die. Maybe. Probably not. But I will be sitting in the lib into the depths of the night with four or five caffeinated drinks. It'll be difficult to spread out the work and not wait until the last minute, along with balancing my other deadlines. 

Mrehan. "studying and sleeping." 7/16/2009 via Flickr. Creative Commons License. 

A real picture of me on the couches of the library this week.

Ok, time to get serious. Is everyone dreading this (me) or are some people excited? 

Cluster of Stakeholders

If you looked at my first blog post on my writing style, you know I love the "bubble graphs." They've led me through my darkest times, so you can imagine how exciting  it was to discover Coggle! Bubble, bubbles, bubbles. Here's my diagram on Nina Pham's lawsuit against THR (Texas Health Resources).

Jurvetson, Steve. "Bubble Rain." 4/16/2005 vis Flickr. Creative Commons License. 

The stakeholders in her lawsuit are Nina Pham herself, Texas Health Resources and the nurses she's representing, both involved directly with the Ebola patient and not.

Evaluation of General Sources

After much deliberation, I finally decided to do Project 1 on nurse Nina Pham's lawsuit against the Texas hospital she worked at for not training her correctly in how to take care of an Ebola patient, which led to her contracting the disease.

The first source I have is a news clip from ABC News.

• URL: the URL for this source is abcnews.go.com. I've always been taught that a .com domain isn't a good enough source, but I have faith in the credibility of this because it's a direct news clip from ABC's website.

• Author: There isn't necessarily an author to the video, unless you count ABC, but the reporter behind the story is Cecilia Vega. She's an Emmy-winning reporter and has written other stories for ABC, "Nightline," and "20/20."

• Last Updated: the video was posted March 2, 2015, not even a year ago. I believe the information is definitely up-to-date and matches up with other information I've found about the case. The links on the page are pretty random; just any other ABC news clip that comes up. None of the links or videos are old, so again, I do think the information is up-to-date.

• Purpose: The purpose of the video is to give all the facts on what has happened to Nina Pham, her feelings on the subject and why she is suing, and how the hospital seems to be responding at that point. News tends to be biased depending on where you're hearing it, and this story seems to be slightly on Nina's side, just because of the kind of language they use and the way they present her case.

• Graphics: This source is a video, so it switches from pictures and videos of Nina, to pictures of the hospital she is suing and different texts. This is a convention of videos that makes the story entertaining and more than just the reporter reading it off.

• Position on Subject: Like I said before, the reporter does show a bias toward Nina's side of the case. I know the information is legitimate because it checks with other sources I've read and seen, so I think it's just her presentation and tone that makes it slightly biased. There isn't much to profit off of people believing the story, because you can still make your own judgements since all the info is there.

• Links: Again, it's a video so there isn't a way to link to anything else. There are no links in the description, nor does the reporter necessarily refer to anything except quotes from Nina and the hospital.

My other source is from an article off an online newspaper, The Dallas Morning News.

• URL: this source's URL is res.dallasnews.com. It's another .com domain, but again I believe its credible because it's a newspaper and I originally found the link through an article in Time, which is definitely a reputable online magazine.

• Author: The author of this article is Jennifer Emily, a staff writer for the Dallas Morning News.  She's a crime reporter and has her bachelor's in journalism from Indiana University in Bloomington.

• Last Updated: the article was posted February 28, 2015. It's a recent article because the lawsuit is fairly recent, so I do trust it's up-to-date-ness. The links on the page lead to other news on Nina, as well as other stories by the newspaper.

• Purpose: The purpose of the article is similar to the video; to inform the public on Nina's situation and why she feels she should sue. This story is more geared towards Nina's side, including many more quotes and pictures of her to sway the reader.

• Graphics: The article includes cute pictures of Nina with her really cute dog (again, to sway the reader), a few pictures of the hospital and a picture on the kinds of symptoms that come with Ebola. Other than the dog pictures, which are definitely persuasive, the rest seem informational.

• Position on Subject: This article is much more biased in that it supports Nina, This makes sense since it's a local newspaper in Dallas, Texas, the setting for the story. Being more biased and sentimental towards Nina may profit the newspaper because it has more of what people are interested in reading. 

• Links: There are links to more information on Nina and other stories, but nothing within the article.

The two sources I chose may have been leaning a certain way, but they're both different and present key information nonetheless. 

Reddit and What I Found There

I think I used Reddit in 7th grade to look at the comic strips that used all those meme faces. That's all I got.

• I was surprised by how funny the discussions were between the nurses. I spent way too much time looking at one discussion feed on ridiculous stories they'e experienced with patients. Some were really funny, others much more serious/gross. Nurses have hard jobs. There were many feeds asking for advice on what kind of programs they should enter, what's the best method to do *blank*?, and some light hearted, funny pictures. 

• As far as debates, most of them have to do with the best places to work with whatever level of nursing you're at. This particular feed discusses the difference in being a CNA at nursing home or a hospital. Discussions on what kind of salaries nurses make according to the region, the mental health of nurses, and the kinds of repercussions they receive from their specific hospitals can all be found here. It's really interesting and helpful to be able to read what people's first hand experiences are like, I will definitely be checking reddit again. 

• I already hyperlinked this discussion above, but it was the most interesting one I found because it includes a ton of demographics on nurses and their answers on several questions, from flu shots to their end goals as nurses. Another really interesting discussion feed I found was on the pros and cons of nursing. A user who goes by "P51Mike1980" made a list of his own pros and cons in the comments, along with many other users sharing their ideas. This was really interesting to read because I myself have been debating between a physiology major or nursing, so this was great information.

• Overall, I wasn't too surprised to read about what the nurses on Reddit are discussing. They were funny and some were quite insightful, which made their comments interesting to read- but I expected the content. It correlated pretty strongly with what I saw on Twitter and the magazine articles, such as salary, the role of the nurse, etc.

Reddit was probably the form of media that I enjoyed browsing the most. I didn't even consider looking there to get information for Project 1, so I'm glad I did!

Evaluation of News Magazine Stories

I honestly can't remember the last time I looked at a magazine that was more than just celebrity gossip and "who wore it best?" columns. Despite my unfamiliarity, the magazines were easy to navigate and quick and interesting reads.

"Amber Vinson's Flight: An Ebola Nurse and the C.D.C" -Amy Davidson

I found my first magazine article after browsing The New Yorker. 

A Summary/The Disagreement:

• The article opens with the story of Amber Vinson, a nurse that had been exposed to an Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan. She was showing the initial symptoms of Ebola and called the Center for Disease Control (C.D.C) for advice; should she get on her plane later that day? The C.D.C gave her approval so Vinson boarded her plane with more than a 100 other passengers, just to be diagnosed with Ebola the next day. When asked about why the C.D.C would allow her to board the plane, the head of the C.D.C, Tom Frieden, avoided a direct answer and blamed Vinson for her behavior. The rest of the article sites similar examples of the C.D.C and other American health institutions blaming nurses for their mistakes. Duncan had been admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian with a strong belief that he had Ebola, yet none of the right protocols were taken. He wasn't isolated properly and the nurses taking care of him were;t given the right equipment to protect themselves, leaving them to improvise. The nurses ended up having to release a statement(Statement from the Nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian) to defend themselves from the backlash.

• The disagreement here is really between the American health institutions, particularly the C.D.C, and the nurses they are blaming. The C.D.C tried to make the claim that these nurses and Vinson acted on their will and were careless; Vinson and the nurses explain that these were essentially their orders. 

The Sympathetic character:

• I might be biased, but I personally believe that the C.D.C and Texas Health Presbyterian are in the wrong here. I sympathize with Amber Vinson and the nurses behind the statement because the evidence does seem to point to them being told to do what they did. I think I feel for them because from what I understand of the nursing role, whatever your superiors says, goes. You can fight for what you believe but in the end, you have to follow orders. These nurses may have known that what they were doing wasn't the best way to go about things, but they had to do what they were told to do. The nurses at Texas Health had to improvise ways to keep themselves safe, like taping their gloves. It's clear that they were trying to use their best judgement.

The Least Sympathetic Character:

• Like I said, the C.D.C is the bad guy here. I especially do not sympathize with the head of the organization, Tom Frieden. The C.D.C made a dire mistake that could cost peoples lives. Then on top of that, he doesn't own up to the mistake and puts the blame on the nurses. This is very cowardly behavior that could potentially lead to the nurses losing their jobs, so he's the worst.

Souza, Pete. "Barack Obama Hugs Nina Pham October 24 2014." 10/24/2014 via WikiMedia Commons. Public Domain License.

On the bright side, here's a picture of Obama hugging Nina Pham, one of the nurses who contracted Ebola at Texas Christian presbyterian but survived. Obama is a nice guy.

"Why Nurses Need More Authority" -John W. Rowe

This one I got from The Atlantic.

A Summary/The Debate:

• The debate in this article is pretty clear: there is and will continue to be a shortage of physicians due to the increase in health insurance acts, so nurses will need to step up. It only makes sense to allow advanced practice registered nurses, or APRNs, to take on more responsibility and independence. These nurses are trained to give the best primary care, diagnose, write prescriptions and much more. Yet 34 of the 50 states restrict this independence for the ARPNs, sometimes going to the length of closing hospitals because of physician shortages. The debate is right in the title of the article. Nurses need more authority to make up for the lack of physicians, but they're being denied this because organizations, such as The American Medical association, are concerned that this would change the dynamic between doctors and nurses, as well as their income. 

The Sympathetic character:

• Ok, I'm definitely biased but I'm with the nurses again on this one. These nurses are completely qualified, more so than the average RN (hence the "advanced practice" part of their title) but they can't use the skills they were trained for? And just because it may change things for doctors? It doesn't make sense to me. If there's a shortage of doctors that needs to be filled, these nurses should be able to practice.

The Least Sympathetic Character:

• Maybe I have a problem with authority, but I think the medical associations are in the wrong again. Not once in the article is there a legitimate reason given for why they oppose this change (other than what I mentioned above- which isn't a good reason to me). They're stopping educated people from helping those in need. There's no good side to what they're trying to do.

That was some heavy stuff. I'm surprised that magazines had so much information, but I can tell that a lot of what I found was written with a bias. I'll probably stick to my gossip magazines for now.

Twitter And What I Found There

Oh, Twitter. Twitter is my #1 procrastination go-to. I wish there was a way to see how much time I've actually spent on just browsing (stalking) on Twitter, but it's probably best kept secret. When I read that this post was about searching Twitter for content relating to our major, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to find much behind all the Kanye, "what are those"-eque posts that seem to make up 90% of tweets. I also had the idea that because my field was nursing, there wouldn't be much to discuss(for some reason). I found that most of the tweeting nursing accounts do is about their programs, trying to lure people in basically, but there was a bit of debate over current events.

Healthyfeetnurses.com. "شعار_التمريض_الجامعي"  v4/2/15 via WikiMedia Commons. Law No. 3 of 1971 on Copyright. 

• The first legitimate account I found that discussed issues in nursing was @NursingTimes, an account that's comprised of tweets about news affecting nurses. The account usually ends most tweets asking for thoughts on the issues, using the hashtag #NTtwitchat. This is where I found the most interesting discussions between people in the nursing field. A recent discussion that has people talking is the possibility of implementing a new "support role" for nurses, or a nursing associate. There's a lot of debate surrounding this because nursing is already a kind of "support role" in itself, so what exactly would nursing associates be doing? How would it affect the salaries of current nurses? There is no definitive news yet on what's going to be decided, so there is room for a lot of speculation on this topic. I find this interesting and relevant because the possibility of there being a support role for me could really change the dynamic of my future career.

• Other than the debate on nursing associates I mentioned above, another big issue that seems to get people angry are nursing cuts or layoffs. There's random feeds everywhere of people complaining about this issue, explaining that all this really does is bring harm to the patients who need constant care. An example that came up quite a bit has to do with nursing cuts overseas done by the NHS, or National Health Service. One specific tweet by @Archangelollil links us to an article on NHS laying off nurses in the UK. He calls the cuts a joke and the comments on the article express the same kind of anger and confusion. I personally agree with how they feel. It's impossible for the busy doctors to do all the tasks a nurse does themselves, so laying off nurses hurts the patient more than anyone else. 

• I wasn't surprised to see people talking about the cuts or the questions of salary, because those topics make sense to argue. People talk about those kinds of things in real life, so why not on Twitter? Though I was a little surprised to see how passionate some people got. Some *questionable language was used in some tweets, but it does still make sense. The issues that come up have to do with people's health care, something that shouldn't be taken lightly. I had no idea that the role of nursing associate was in the works, so I did learn something new there. Otherwise, most of the other conversations were what I expected. 

Now that I've navigated the nursing side of Twitter, I can spend even more time procrastinating catching up on those issues too!

Evaluation of New York Times Story

I'm not proud to admit it, but I am definitely not the most informed citizen on current events. I get most of my news off social media, like Twitter, so my sources are not always reliable to say the least. It was interesting to explore the organized, formal New York Times in comparison to the random chaos that's published on social media that I'm used to. From the Arts and Health categories, i found a couple stories that piqued my interest.

"Rapper B.o.B Insists Earth Is Flat. Take That, Neil deGrasse Tyson."- by Daniel Victor

Ingalls, Bill/NASA.
"Tyson- Apollo 40th Anniversary2009."
7/20/2009 via WikiMedia Commons. Public
Domain License.

The Come Up Show. "Rapper B.o.B 2013."  8/10/13 via
WikiMedia  Commons. Creative Commons Attribution
License. 

• The main character and protagonist of this particular story is the rapper Bobby Ray Simmons Jr., more famously known as B.o.B(pictured above on the left). The story, written by Daniel Victor in the Arts section of the Times, revolves around B.o.B.'s recent Twitter allegations claiming that the Earth is actually flat. The story includes screenshots of his tweets arguing that the Earth being round is a conspiracy, warning his followers that they have been "deceived". The other main character that comes into play is astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson(pictured above on the right). Tyson disagreed with B.o.B.'s claim-as most people would- which provoked B.o.B to release a diss track to defend himself.

• The story takes place exclusively on Twitter, since that's the platform B.o.B used to express his problematic theory and how Tyson replied to him. Twitter is a public and popular platform, so B.o.B.'s ideas and his encounter with Tyson could be followed by anyone who was interested. If B.o.B hadn't felt compelled to share his argument with the world, there would be no story. Tyson was very courteous in his replies despite the very obvious flaws in B.o.B.'s theory, which we could chalk up to the fact that his words were completely public and not many were taking B.o.B. very seriously.

• Although there is technically a debate occurring in this story, there's not really a question of who is right. No matter how much B.o.B might insist on it, we all know the Earth is not flat. Just look at a picture from space if you're really that skeptical, B.o.B. The reason for why B.o.B is so adamant about his idea is unclear, but because he is a rapper and not a scholar he doesn't necessarily have much to lose publishing his nonsensical tweets. If anything, he is gaining publicity by giving people something to laugh about. On the other hand, Tyson is a reputable scientist who we all know to be the correct party in the debate, so there isn't much for him to lose either. It is an overall funny and interesting story that we all like to read because we get a kick out of celebrities and the things they say, and it will surely show up in an SNL skit we'll want to understand.

"New Weapon to Fight Zika: The Mosquito"- by Andrew Pollack

The second story I read is significantly more serious. There are no main characters in this story that are specific people, but many doctors and specialists are quoted on their beliefs on the issue. The "center" of the story is the fight against the mosquito-spread virus, Zika, and the efforts that have been made to stop its spread. The story opens by explaining how devastating mosquito-spread viruses have been and how urgent it is to control the spread of Zika. The rest of the story details the many different approaches that are being explored or speculated on, from genetically mutated mosquitoes to  potentially dangerous pesticides.

AlvesGaspar. "Mosquito 2007-2."Nov. 2007 via WikiMedia Commons. GNU Free Documentation License.

• The genetically mutated mosquitoes are being released in Brazil on a smaller scale, making it the primary setting of the story. The disease itself, Zika, has spread across other Latin American country so the issue affects much more than just Brazil. The setting is important since these countries are so humid and rainy, making them the perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes. They are also poverty ridden countries, for the most part. Medical care is harder to obtain so the demand for a solution as soon as possible is much higher.

• There is debate over the future repercussions that can arise from releasing all the altered mosquitoes. The creator behind the mosquitoes, a British company named Oxitec, claims that this method is safe and has proven its effectiveness, so it only makes sense to implement on a larger scale. Critics and environmentalists worry about what would happens if the mosquitoes create another problem; trying to destroy the mosquitoes with the mutation would be much more difficult than the average mosquito.  In this debate, Oxitec has quite a bit to lose. If the genetically mutated mosquitoes do end up creating a problem, then they would surely face the consequences for their claims. On the other hand, if they're successful, the company would gain huge amounts of funding and many lives could be saved.

These stories are both very different, yet it was easy to determine the main "characters" and the debates between them. Looking through these stories gave me hope that maybe Project 1 won't be too bad, hopefully.

Course Projects

I think I can honestly never say that I've been excited by the thought of doing projects. After reading through the projects for this course, not much has changed. As I mentioned in my earlier post about my writing process, I am a massive procrastinator so projects are always a struggle for me, no matter the subject. I can admit that the projects that we will be completing in this course are definitely more interesting (and possibly more challenging) than in other classes, but the anxiety I feel is all the same.

LaurMG. "Frustrated Man at a Desk." 5/24/2011 via WikiMedia Commons. Creative Common Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. 

• One of the things that makes me the most nervous about the projects are the different genres. I know I will be internally debating for days over which genre is better for which project, decide, then change my mind again. The genres themselves make me nervous, specifically the podcast and video essay. I'm not a performer and I doubt I ever will be, so putting myself out there won't be easy. I have to make sure that my nerves don't get in the way of me delivering specific and well-researched content.

• Some of the same things that make me nervous are also pretty exciting. Editing, filming and recording will all be new experiences for me, so I'm excited for it in the way that I'll be able to try something new (if only I didn't have to actually be in it). I am also excited to be researching and writing about something in my field, so at least the content will be relevant and interesting to me. The best project I ever did in high school was a research project on scary movies(I LOVE them), so hopefully the course projects will follow that trend. 

• I will definitely have to devote some time to learning how to work all the technology we will be using. I have a bad habit of pretending something doesn't exist if I don't get it, which is definitely not an option this time. I will also have to set aside plenty of time to do all the researching the projects require, as well as schedule an interview. Again, I am a legendary for my procrastination so actually doing these things will require a lot of self discipline. 

• High school had its fair share of research projects, so I am pretty confident in my ability to find reliable sources and use them well. I was also taught the steps that should be taken to write successful papers, such as outlining information and writing rough drafts. I don't generally take those steps for a low stakes paper for non-writing classes, but its good to have the skills and be able to use them for these projects that require planning and attention to detail. 

• I understand the main ideas of what we should be doing for all the projects, but actually going about doing them and using the different genres is a bit confusing and scary. I'm sure I'll understand once we talk about them in more depth in class, so until then I'll stay nervous and pretend that they aren't coming so soon. 

I thought that looking over the course projects would settle my nerves a bit, but it seems to have done the opposite. I'm just getting visions of myself trying to set up cameras and microphones and probably crying. Is everyone just as nervous as me?

Reflection: James and Fern both expressed some confusion over the rhetorical investigation and the interview, which made me feel a little better about my own stress. The general consensus seems to be stress and interest in the content. I continue to find it interesting how easy it is to distinguish everyone's voice over their blog posts. We're all writing about the same thing and have similar feelings, but everyone has been formatting and expressing themselves differently. I feel like I learn a little bit from everyone's blogs and it's actually really cool :)

Investigating Genres

Out of the genres that we will be exploring this semester, the one that I thought I knew absolutely nothing about is the Quick Reference Guide. After looking through a few examples, I realized that I've seen Quick Reference Guides all over the Internet as what I thought were just simple articles, but really are their own distinct genre.

1. A Quick Reference Guide is an easy way to get concise information on a topic without knowing much about it. The paragraphs are usually short and to the point, so it's easy to skim through and look for something specific quickly- hence the title Quick Reference Guide. The purpose is to convey a message briefly to an audience with limited experience.

2. Quick Reference Guides are essentially articles that can answer rather specific questions, usually on news topics. I imagine that most people would access them by Googling a question and encountering the article in the results.

Google Inc. "GoogleLogoSept12015."9/1/2015 via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain License. 

3. The audience for Quick Reference Guides can really depend on the content of the guide. Some of the examples range from a guide to Gamergate that would appeal to a younger generation, to a guide on the effect of e-cigarettes on people's health, which could attract people of any age that smoke or have family or friends that do. The audience is definitely directed toward more tech-savvy people than an audience who prefers print, but other than that it can be very broad.

4. The characteristic that stands out the most in the Quick Reference Guide is the subheadings that pose a question and the paragraphs that follow. The subheadings are usually bolded to facilitate finding the information quickly, and the language is not complicated or flowery.

5. If I had to define a Quick Reference Guide I would call it an article that can briefly inform a broad audience on a range of topics through a question and answer format.

Initially, a Quick Reference Guide sounds rather complicated but after viewing the examples, it really is quite simple. Out of the genres we will be exploring this semester, I feel like this one will be straight forward and a great way to write about almost anything; especially news issues. What do you guys think? Do you think the Quick Reference Guide will be challenging?

Reflection: Both Jake and Bianca wrote about video essays in their Investigating Genres posts. I'm glad that I read them because I had put off looking into the video essay just because of how nervous it makes me. They both explained how versatile and informative a video essay can be, as well as the broad audience it can reach. Jake and Bianca both used variations of bolding and coloring certain words in their posts, which I really liked. I realize that I should put more effort into the organization and aesthetics of my blog so it's more interesting to read and not just a block of text.

My Writing Process

I've never taken the time to reflect on my own writing style because I didn't think I had a particular "style." Once I read the descriptions of the categories, I was surprised that I could quickly narrow down which ones I could relate to, and which ones definitely weren't me.

1.  If I'm being completely honest with myself, the best way I can describe my writing style is "bombastic", which pretty much means fancy words you don't need. If I'm about to write an essay, I can guarantee you that the thesaurus will be up before I type a single word. And I totally got the word bombastic off a thesaurus. As far as my habits, I tend to wait until the last minute to do anything, but I refuse to start without a plan.

2. I don't think I necessarily fall into one of the categories fully, but as I mentioned above, I usually procrastinate then plan. I think if I had to choose two categories I would combine the "Sequential Composer" and "Procrastinator" categories. The two categories are pretty contradictory, since sequential composers spend time planning and procrastinators procrastinate. I have been well-known to wait until the ultimate, very last, last, LAST minute to do anything, especially writing. But I also can't just open up a Word document or pick up a pencil and start writing without a tentative plan. The description of a sequential composer includes a bit about written notes and structure to their ideas, which is completely me. I was taught in high school that a bubble diagram with main ideas and sub-ideas is a good way to map out an essay, and it has been my essay writing Bible ever since.

Odessa, Cs. "Bubble-Diagram-Employment-Policy-Direction." 4/23/2014 via Wikimedia Commons.
Creative Commons Attribution License

3. My writing process is generally successful. I usually get good grades on my essays and have never turned in anything that I consider to be an awful or illiterate. I've always been told that my writing has a good flow to it and that I'm good at tying in all my ideas to the thesis (which I completely owe to my blessed bubble diagrams). I believe that most of my weaknesses have to do with how much I procrastinate. In a desperation to finish on time, I usually don't revise very much and have a notorious streak for run on sentences.

4. My writing process could benefit if I could leave my procrastinating side behind and pick up more of the habits from the sequential composer side of me. I'm satisfied with the way I plan my essays, but if I gave myself more time to plan them, write them, and actually revise for once, the outcomes of my essays would definitely improve.

Looking back and reading this post makes it seem like I have my writing process down but I honestly never know what I'm doing :) Does anyone else use the bubble diagrams though? Because those bubbles and lines have saved me.