Final Post: LA101H, A True Learning Experience

“Learning experience.” Before arriving at college, I thought if I heard that term one more time in reference to freshman year the speaker would get a “learning experience” to the face.  What I have come to discover, however, is that the term could not be better-suited as a descriptor.  Every aspect of freshman year is a learning experience.  From learning how to do the most basic things independently- feeding, bathing, and clothing oneself- to learning how to do things I never thought I would need to know- the intricacy of respecting another person’s living space, the fragility that is free time and the vitality of managing it, the value of being organized.  Freshman year has made me socially more adept, politically more informed, economically more careful, and academically more attentive.  I have learned the parasitical, ever-looming presence that is procrastination and how to fend it off, the relief felt when finally shutting a textbook in the early hours of the morning, the exhilaration that is a product of taking an exam and knowing that I was prepared.  I learned how to study- not the methods I utilized in high school that involved a brief leafing-through of notes, but how to really study, sit for hours in a quiet place and immerse myself in a textbook.  I learned how to pay attention in class- not sit there and think about how hungry I am, how tired I am, et cetera, but how to focus my attention on what the professor is saying and following along.  I learned the value of asking for help, after conquering my initial fear of approaching my professors. 

A topic freshman year has familiarized me with is rhetoric.  I have come to see rhetoric in every aspect of my daily life, from Facebook statuses to methods professors employ in lecture halls.  I have seen the way rhetoric shapes my interaction with everyone, and how it can be used as a weapon and a tool.  Rhetoric is everywhere- logos in newspaper articles, pathos in commercials, ethos in my roommate’s retelling of a dramatic story.  I have come to understand my duty in society as a citizen- the value of my social and political participation. 

Freshman year has made my strengths, weaknesses, and passions increasingly evident.  I have chosen a career path that I think is suitable- becoming a college professor.  Taking LA101H has made me truly enjoy public speaking- an interest that is instrumental for professors.  I love interacting with my peers and helping them out with any problems they have, and find the academic environment stimulating.  This career path truly does feel meant to be for me- once I had the idea, I knew it was right.

Hopefully my ePortfolio will prove to be just as much of a “learning experience” about my interests as freshman year was for me.

Amanda Ascoli's ePortfolio

The Rhetoric of a Dorm Room

   "An organized desk is an organized mind." I seriously thought if my AP English teacher senior year said that one more time I would vomit all over his organized desk.  I thought that saying was a load of bull.  I consider myself a relatively organized person academically, socially, and economically.  I'm not a chronic deadline-misser, I'm not one of those kids who looks dumbstruck when the teacher comes to collect homework and painstakingly searches their folders even though they know the assignment being collected was never completed, or even known about.  I don't stand my friends up- if we meet for dinner at 7, I get there at 7.  I don't use planners or calendars, I'm just good at keeping things like that straight.  I don't blow my money on pointless things or run my debit card balance into negative numbers (okay, one time I did buy this sweet hammock online for like $400, but I acknowledge that was a mistake.  Lie- it was awesome.  That hammock was worth every penny- if your hammock doesn't have drink holders and attached tiki lamps, I feel bad for you).  Which is why I always thought my teacher's saying was completely inaccurate. Despite being relatively organized in my personal affairs, my bedroom was always...interesting.

     My dad refers to my bedroom as Narnia- he says when you enter it, it's like time stops and weird furry things come out of nowhere.  My mom used to come in my room, sigh, and just leave.  My little brothers used to use inspiration for their science experiments based on items found under my bed.  (Okay- it was one time.  And it turns out pita bread, contrary to popular belief, does not mold.)  I make it sound horrible, and okay, yeah, it is.  It was never gross messy- I never eat in my room (other than the pita bread incident of '07) or bring soda cans in there and leave them around.  There are no crumbs on the carpet, I wash my sheets regularly, and there aren't really strange furry things crawling around.  Except, on occasion, my youngest brother.  But I am the Tasmanian Devil of clothing.  It takes me eons to decide what to wear, and in the process I manage to amass a pile of clothes taller than I am, usually comprised of strange items of clothing I put on, gaze at, and immediately discard.  Between that and my haphazard makeup application techniques (I'll apply mascara at my dresser, and leave it, eyeliner at the bathroom mirror, and leave it, sit on my bed and put on lip gloss, which is then left on my night stand, and put on deodrant which I usually toss to the ground when done with), my room looks like it's been hit by El Nino.  Between the clothes, the make-up, the deodrant on the floor, and then the pile of books on my nightstand that is always leaning precariously to one side, poised to topple at any moment, we have a situation.

     And you know what? None of it bothers me.  Rather than reach into a drawer and pick out a neatly folded shirt, I simply scavenge my several piles of clothing.  Rather than reach onto my nightstand and grab my deodrant, I reach down on the floor.  Rather than put on my make up at my bathroom mirror, I simply put it on as I find it.  Weird, right? I know. It just doesn't bother me.  The mess is soothing in a way that is difficult to explain.  It is relief- environments that are too organized I often find tense and feel stressful.  My room is anything goes, and I like it.  

     When I got to college, all of that changed.  I began to realize- your dorm represents who you are in a big way.  When I first meet people and bring them to my dorm room, I see their eyes cast around quickly, taking it all in.  And I'm equally guilty.  Wow, two Bob Marley posters? Pothead.  Hot pink bedspread and cheetah print bulletin board? High maintenance.  Big screen TV? My new friend.  Your room is how you express yourself, how you want to appear and be received by others.  I love that in my dorm room a bright red poster of Don Vito stares menacingly down on me from beside John Lennon's faraway, dreamlike look.  I like that in one corner I have Jim Morrison and in the other a poster of Patrick Swayze lifting Jennifer Grey above his head.  I like that my bedspread is the color of my eyes, my lamp is pretty kooky looking, and I have a VHS collection that has taken me years to collect and is, admittedly, pretty damn enviable. (Yeah, I have a VCR, get at me).  I take pride in my things, and I keep my room clean.  I no longer let clothing create a sort of Himalayas around my bed- I apply make up in front of the mirror like a normal person.  The rhetoric of my room has gone from me seemingly like a mental patient (high school) to looking like a person who actually cares about taking the time to do little things, like fold my towels and vacuum.  At first, I questioned: is this a loss of my individuality? Am I too scared for people to know that I, Amanda Ascoli, am messy?

     The answer is not the loss of something but the gaining of another- maturity.  I like my clothes now, I have a job and the money I make goes towards buying them.  Why throw them on the floor?  I just bought new Great Lash last week and I want to find it- how about I keep it in my make-up case?  I guess what my room suggests now is that I, Amanda Ascoli, may be growing up.

The Rhetoric of Facebook

     What's open in another tab right now? Facebook.  What do I check as soon as I get back to my room? Facebook.  What do I peruse while bored in lectures? Facebook.  What gives me first impressions on people, tells me what my friends are doing, allows me to reconnect with old friends, share my thoughts, and make weekend plans? Facebook.  Do I sound addicted?  The funny thing is, I'm not.  I'm not nearly as bad as so many of my friends- while on vacation I don't insist on checking it from my phone.  I rarely make those pointless and frustrating status updates, I never leave rambling videos for friends while intoxicated, I don't "like" everything on my friends' pages.  I rarely change my profile picture, haven't changed my "About Me" since like the ninth grade, and am not crushed if not enough people comment on my statuses.  I have friends who can sit on Facebook for hours, constantly refreshing their homepage, stalking pictures of people on vacation who they've never even had a conversation with.  Facebook opens a lot of doors- it's great, and it also can be quite creepy.

     What constantly frustrates me with Facebook is how to accurately represent myself.  When I found out I was living with seven other girls first semester in a supplemental dorm, I turned immediately to Facebook, analyzing each of their profile pictures and About Me's, looked at what kind of music and movies they like.  My impressions were as follows: one of the girls is really edgy and chill, as I gleaned from her profile picture captions being all Eminem lyrics and her Religious Views something blase like "Believe Whatever You Want."  One of the girls was the typical high school athlete: soccer star, lax girl, probably had a million friends and loved to party.  One girl seemed bitchy- she had barely any people post on her wall and her profile pictures indicated she was one of those uber-attractive girls who just thinks they're too good for everyone.  The last profile I stalked was of my current roommate, and she just seemed downright intimidating.  Her status updates were sassy, filled with curse words and references to partying and going out, her pictures all of her tanned and blonde and with other tanned blonde people.  The final three girls didn't have Facebook- a cardinal social sin that made me immediately dismiss them as weird.

     Boy, was I wrong.  The edgy girl turned out to be the most straight-edge person I've ever encountered- a girl who sits in on the weekends and studies, who never used a curse word or said anything remotely forcible.  The athlete?  A total girly-girl, with all-pink sheets and a pink laptop and pink picture frames framing pictures of her wearing pink clothes.  The bitchy girl? One of the absolute sweetest girls I've ever met- always warm and ready to talk and give advice and share clothes.  And my current roommate? Yeah, she is kinda sassy.  But she has the wittiest sense of humor I've ever encountered and is compassionate and caring to a fault.  

     One night we all shared our first impressions of each other from our Facebooks.  I told them what I thought and we all laughed, then I asked what they thought of me.  "Quiet," one said.  "Artsy," said another.  "I thought you'd be boring," said the girl I'm currently rooming with, always one to speak her mind.

     Quiet? Artsy? Boring?! What did I do to give off this impression?  What made me seem quiet? My biblical quote in the quotes section? Artsy? My one black and white profile picture from Photobooth?  Boring?!?! That one made me revamp my Interests and Activities.  Facebook is complicated- just now I received a Friend Request from a guy I met out last weekend.  I viewed my profile quickly before accepting- do I seem boring? Artsy? Quiet?  Moments later I realized- how silly.  If anyone worth my time would dismiss me because of something they saw on my Facebook, they're not worth my time.  And the sad thing?  Those dismissals happen all the time.  Facebook is fragile- I never want to come off too strong, never want to sound too philosophical or dramatic.  Facebook is a prime example of Rhetoric, one we encounter and manipulate every day.

The Power of the Question of the Day

     I'm in the ocean.  Just floating there- not even sure what I'm floating on or where I am geographically or how I got this far out or where the coast is.  I'm just floating.  Suddenly, out of nowhere, a siren sounds.  I sit up quickly, and my raft wobbles.  I cling frantically to the edges but too late...I am falling, I am drowning, I am...waking up.

     Crap. I roll over- the time on my clock reads 9:20.  9:20am.  9:20am as in I was supposed to be up an hour ago at least in order to shower, brush my teeth, get breakfast, and pack my backpack.  Crap.  For a moment, I lay there, still wrapped snugly in my blanket, sleep teasing me, fluttering close and making me want to shut my eyes and drift, back into the ocean, back into darkness, back into comfort.  I contemplate several things.  Would it be so bad if I were to just sleep through LA101H? Just this once, then never again?  What crucial pieces of information would be lost if I were to sink back into my blissful coma, what important things missed that a simple e-mail wouldn't repair?  What if I just did it...

     And then I remember.  The question of the day.  A fact about everyone in the room- one I could never obtain through e-mail.  And it's not that I'm some weird super creeper who stalks everyone in the class and wants to know their life story (okay maybe you, Gabo), it's just that I genuinely enjoy the question of the day.  I love thinking back to whatever it is- something about myself others don't know, my favorite movie, something I love to hate, the worst job I've ever had.  I love hearing people tell their stories- I love laughing at 9:45am at the nickname Cocoa Bear even though in an hour I have an exam I know absolutely nothing for and my roommate is bugging me and I miss my parents and I can't wait for summer and I'm stressed out like nobody's business.  I like getting up in front of the class to give a speech and looking out to a sea of faces that are no longer unfamiliar, but each face holds some weight: that person is from New York, that person is a child of divorce, that person works at Sesame Place (shout out Jaclyn ;P), that person's been to Italy and that person wants to become a lawyer.  I love feeling comfortable in the classroom- feeling like everyone is genuinely interested in what I have to say and who I am.  And even if they're not, for about thirty seconds every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, in spite of feeling stressed, upset, hungry, exhausted, hungover, wistful, resentful, anxious and a whole host of other unpleasant emotions, for just those thirty seconds during my time to share my answer to the question of the day, I get to feel...interesting.

Rhetoric At Work

     So after a grueling weekend of two 9 hour shifts at Chipotle, I found myself half-heartedly rolling burritos and beginning to do the unthinkable- relate my life to things I learn about in class.   I started to notice certain things in the way people talk to me- the frat guys with their Greek letter sweatshirts and bravado when they ask for "double meat", the sports teams who walk in like they own the place and all order the same thing, donning their Penn State Rugby team sweatshirts and sweatpants (seriously, do sports guys own any clothes that don't pay homage to their sports team?), the sorority girls who give me condescending looks and quietly order salads, sans the dressing of course, the geeky guys who are infallibly polite and make me want to throw myself over the counter and hug after a long day of scooping rice for ungrateful pricks, the people who barely speak English and frantically point to ingredients, the adults who walk in, lists in hand, attempting to order meals for an entire family, the young parents with their infants in tow, brandishing their baby proudly as though I'm going to give them free burritos just for having to change diapers.  All kinds of people come in there- some loud, some soft-spoken, some obnoxious and others polite, some with polite smiles and others with creepy winks that make me internally shudder.  Rhetoric is in everything- it's in the way my boss tells me I have to move faster, in the way the cooks communicate with each other, sometimes loudly but always respectfully, in the way the cashier requests politely that customers sign receipts and in the way boys try to charm their way into skipping the extra $1.80 guacamole charge.  Rhetoric shapes everything we do in the way of communication...funny how the things I learn in school sometimes, maybe apply to the real world :-P

Really Good Rhetoricians

#1- Stephen Colbert

This man is amazing.  Seriously.  I would do unspeakable things to see his show tape live.  Stephen Colbert is a talented public speaker, a fantastic comedian, a witty interviewer, and overall just dead sexy, if you ask me.  Why do I think Stephen Colbert is such a great rhetorician?  There are several elements that make his show excellent- he has immense appeal with his satirical take on current social issues and the vocabulary he uses gives him credibility as an educated person.  He doesn't take himself too seriously, which makes him enjoyable to watch.  

#2- Conan O'Brien

Conan O'Brien, despite leaving NBC seemingly awkwardly, has bounced back as a late night talk show host with his new show on TBS.  Conan has a similar appeal as Colbert- he keeps his demeanor light and humorous while making social commentary.  Conan also has a logos appeal- he too speaks in an educated way and is, in fact, a Harvard graduate.  Conan engages viewers by featuring segments that are humorous and actually asking relevant questions when he interviews guests, unlike other interviewers (David Letterman comes to mind, who seems to only want to make himself look funny in interviews, even if it involves blatantly taunting guests to their faces).  Conan has a self-deprecating sense of humor that is refreshing, and makes him a powerful rhetorician.

#3- Oprah Winfrew

You didn't really think I would get away with making this list without a shoutout to my homegirl Oprah, didja?  Oprah is a phenomenal rhetorician whose rhetorical skills have helped her make bank and be relevant and recognizable worldwide. Why is Oprah so successful? Because Oprah goes there.  Oprah delves into issues that would be deemed too heavy or serious for other daytime talk show hosts.  She interviews her guests with questions that are well-crafted: she is not an indulgent or egotistical interviewer, but a genuinely good listener.  Her advice is always sound, her passion for charity work unmatched, and she is relatable and honest with her audience.  And anyone who gives away free cars is fine by me.

Public Controversies: The Low-Down

     Fact.  Value.  Policy.  The three primary components that define a public controversy.  A public controversy has a factual foundation, is an issue of values, and has the desired result of a reformed, resisted, or reinstated policy.  The guidelines leave much more breadth than it sounds- there are many issues, on both a small and large scale, that could be considered public controversies.  For my entry today, I'm going to go over a few issues and weigh whether or not they could be considered public controversies.

     

Tuition Prices

Absolutely, yes.  Tuition prices is an issue that affects a large range of people and is undeniably relevant in modern society.  It is based on fact- the fact that tuition prices are at an all-time high, the fact that they have increased dramatically in recent years, the fact that U.S tuition prices are astronomical compared to that of other countries.  There is value involved- the value of receiving an education and then carving out a valuable career path that meets an individual's goals.  The policy is the issue at hand- how are these universities getting away with charging such high prices?  How is our society being hurt by these prices, how can this change to ensure that an education is increasingly accessible?  Tuition prices is definitely a public controversy.

Snooki's Poof

Well, let's weigh the issue.  The fact is, I've been seeing less and less of the poof this season on Jersey Shore as compared to the two seasons prior.  The policy- should Snooki be required to wear the poof a certain amount of times per season?  Should she have a poof quota?  I miss that thing- it had character.  The value lies in...okay, maybe this isn't a public controversy after all.

The Breaking up of The Beatles

Tentatively, yes.  The fact: John and Paul started arguing more and more about a wide range of issues- the presence of Yoko in the recording studio, John's drug usage, Paul's drug usage, John's evolving songwriting style versus Paul's evolving songwriting style, whose going to continue making Ringo feel included, etc.  (The last one was a joke),  The value: the existence of this band and their music's effectiveness- how they broke down cultural, gender, political, and societal barriers with their music.  The policy: The issue itself.  Many fans were heartbroken to hear the news the band was breaking up, and were in favor of them reuniting.  Other fans understood the band had begun to grow apart and was content with the new arrangement of each artist now working on solo projects.  So yes, the breaking up of The Beatles is a public controversy.

No Paper Towels in the Dorm Bathrooms

Fact: There are no paper towels or hand dryers in the dorm bathrooms.  Value: Umm, hello, after washing my hands the natural next step would be to DRY THEM.  Policy: Currently, no hand dryers or paper towels.  The policy I would appreciate: being able to DRY MY HANDS.  Maybe not a public controversy to the scale I wish it was, and not exactly a grave matter, but a relevant issue all the same.