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Through this assignment on photostory I was able to show a visual aspect of our border and how the discourse in which it brings, makes it very much rhetorical. People from across the border in Mexico see opportunities such as the sign in my slideshow implys for more jobs at low wages. Yet opportunities such as these are blocked off with barriers consisting of a wall and barbed wire. We see through my slideshow the side affect in which NAFTA had before and after, and how yes it improved revenue in the U.S.; although, started a high status of illegal immigration due to the fact that immigrants from other latin countries were traveling to Mexico, closer to the border for more jobs.

Moving on...I really enjoyed having this class this semester. I learned a lot about analysis and how to better understand rhetoric. I also enjoy the blogs in which we did throughout the semester because I was able to incite my knowlegde and ideas to others. I will truly miss you Mrs. Ramirez and I thank you for all the knowlegde you have bestowed upon me! I hope you have a relaxing and fun summer! Thank you once again!

Photostory Lesson

Today in class as you all know we learned about photostory. I am really excited about this assignment because you can do so much with it. Like Mrs. Ramirez said you can customize the mood of your picture. I'm really looking forward to showing and expressing the way I feel about my topic, the border, and how it is rhetorical. I think through this program of Photostory I will be able to get my point across on issues concerning our border which are left salient or unnoticed. Well I hope you guys have a good weekend, and good luck on your research papers!

Amy

So this past week went by super fast, overall it went very well. I purchased a puppy whom I named Amy. She is only 5 weeks old and is a toy poodle. She is the size of your hand and is super cute; although, she is a major handful at times. I look forward to seeing her grow and having her be apart of my family. I also had an awesome week at work, I recently got promoted, moving to customer service and I am really excited. I was really nervous and thought this job would be strenuos, but it turned out to be fun, relaxing and easy. I'm looking forward towards it and hope I continue to show my good work and hard effort that my boss is looking for. I hope you all had a good week, see you in class!

Lights out El Paso

Well I hope you guys had a resting and refreshing Spring Break and made it back safely. Okay so my topic is called "Light's out El Paso" because I was listening to a topic on 104.3 and this is what they were talking about. As I was getting ready for school I overheard this topic on the radio and thought what is this "Light's out El Paso?" The radio station was talking about some ordinace that had passed saying that if anyone still had Christmas lights up after Christmas meaning year round, that they were to be fined per light bulb. I started laughing because I was thinking how ridiculous is this ordinace. I was even telling my boyfriend on my way to school, can we really be fined for having Christmas lights up? I mean it's our property don't we have rights to put whatever we want up on our house? Then I thought to myself well we do conserve on water, and we aren't allowed to water our yards everyday so maybe this isn't that ridiculous. Anyways, back to what they were saying on the radio. So they were making remarks as to how the star on the mountain should then be taken down if citizens had to take down their lights! That's when I though ok, this is ridiculous, what is this world coming to? We have so many issues in the world and the government is concerned about Christmas lights? lol You have to admit this is stupid. Continuing on....the radio station was telling listeners that if they wanted to report anyone they could as well as email them on the issue. All day I couldn't stop thinking about this ridiculous ordinace. I was so bothered I told one of my neighbors about it, he took off the few Christmas lights he had up down. Okay so later the next day I tuned into the station again to see what they would say about this so call "Light's out El Paso," and it turned out many listeners had reported people as well as thought this was ridiculous. Right when I was about to leave to go to work the broadcasters started laughing and saying that this was just an April Fools joke and wanted to see how the public would react! Can you believe that lol...I was embarrassed to go talk to my neighbor lol. Goes to show don't believe everything that you read or hear!

Spring Break

So my Spring Break went ok. I didn't really do much other than go to Oklahoma to go see my cousins. It was pretty cool because I don't really get to see them much. Hopefully this fourth of July I will get to see them again. What more can I say...well as you guys all know there isn't much to do in Oklahoma other than to go to Wal-mart which is like the most fun you can have for shopping lol or the movies. At least I had the chance to relax right =/ Oh did I fail to mention I had to stay two extra days because my cousin had a baby boy...yea that was pretty much the highlight of my Spring Break! Well I hope you guys had a good Spring Break see you in class =)

Fresco

Taking Art Appreciation this semester at Utep I am currently learning about a particular type of art by the discription named Fresco. Fresco is a particular type of art that was founded in 1953 in America's Heartland. It consists of seven virtues such as Faith, Justice, Temperance, Preduence, Hope, Fortitude and Charity. I went ahead and looked up the type of technique to use in order to paint Fresco after watching a video in class about how it is processed, I found it to be quite interesting and a lot of hard work and effort that consists many years to complete! I recently found an article, "The Art of Fresco: Painting Technique." by Sir Lucia Wiley, CHS, which breaks down the type of technique fresco painting requires.....

A Well Thought Out Design and Color Scheme

In fresco painting it is necessary to have a well-thought-out design prepared before hand, as the medium does not permit experimentation or changes in drawing as is possible in most other ways of painting. If the plaster dries before it is completed, or if you have made a serious error, start over again with a new coat—a little bit of plastering experience will convince you that it is wiser to do the best you can with the piece before you—as plastering is really the only hard part of fresco painting. Light, space, air and architecture are all determining factors in how the fresco shall be painted. The carrying power of the painting must be experienced in the actual setting, and it usually takes one patch, or less, to serve as the guinea pig in establishing the right key. This is one reason why a fresco painted directly on the wall, where it will always be seen, has a better chance for being right than does a mural painted on canvas in the artist's studio, and later glued to the wall.On a large fresco toward the beginning of the work it is sometimes difficult to key the color. The first sections are so high and isolated that there is nothing to which to key the color, value and intensity. It usually takes one patch, or less, to serve as the guinea pig in establishing the right key. In addition as the work progresses the fresh new plaster is darker than other previous (and dry) patches next to it; it takes experience to trust that each daily section will match the previously completed ones.

Transferring the Design

Just before transferring your design, smooth uneven places on the plaster with ball of hand covered with tracing paper. Traditionally, the drawing is transferred to the plaster by means of a perforated cartoon, through which is sifted powdered paint or charcoal dust. I used this method in all of my murals and to create the perforations in the cartoon, I used a dressmaker's wheel. Today, there are more options to choose from when transferring your design to the wall; overhead projectors or slide projectors work well and are quite acceptable. Orozco used this method, instead of the cartoon. Actually, although I did not have an opportunity to try these methods, I believe that in terms of the longevity of the painting, using a modern method may be preferable. If using a cartoon begin when the plaster coat no longer gives to the index finger trace. Press in contours of cartoon with brush handle or pounce. Another way to judge the readiness of wet plaster is that it can bear the pressure of the pounce pad, which is made from a bag of cheesecloth filled with charcoal dust. Sometimes I needed help to hold the paper pattern in place as I dusted the charcoal thorough the tiny holes in the paper formed by running a dressmaker's tracing wheel along the drawing lines. The most meager amount of line that the artist can get along with is used, for the artist wants to be free to improvise on this line, and too many guidelines now would limit one.

Painting

When working on a fresco in a public site, when the plasterer is through and has gone home for the day, you are left with a few hours of quiet bliss before the offices open and the continuous line of public comes and goes below or even through your site. Be prepared to take advantage of this time. While the plasterer is doing his work early in the morning, grind the minerals for making the paints. If in grinding color it takes water poorly, add a little alcohol. Put a small amount of lime into those that will be used during the first part of the day.Check the cartoons and the preliminary studies for the last time. These refresh the memory, but in reality the design will be so well in-mind that the refreshment is hardly necessary except that it helps to give one that extra bit of confidence which you need to touch a new piece of plaster. Taking the first brush stroke upon this new fresh piece of plaster is truly frightening; but there is not time to dwell upon it, for the plaster dries at the joint first, and it must be painted there along the seam quickly. It is possible in fresco to make these joints invisible;One of the most stimulating things about fresco painting is that the plaster has a life of its own, with its own needs and appetite for water, paint, and various brush pressures. I have identified at least four stages in the life of the plaster.The first period will last 6 or 8 hours (at northern latitudes) during which time the color areas are put in, using a semi-dry brush. Here a small pinch of lime white—the lime itself—is mixed with each color in order to give it the body that is used for the modeling. This particular mixture is called verdaccio, and was used by the great Italian painters. It is not used today very commonly, but I discovered that it is the means of giving great strength to the drawing and the modeling. To brush on this mixture takes great physical strength, like pounding forte on the piano for hours, and this may be one of the reasons that Diego Riviera does not use it. Modeling and drawing are now done very loosely with a coarse, small, almost dry brush. Beating the paint into the plaster without disturbing the surface of the plaster. Don't be afraid of running over outline with local color. Color must be liquid, but must not run down in drops. Don't disturb ground with brush or whitish patches will develop. Don't torment the color.Following the period when one paints in the verdaccio, there comes a second plaster response quality when dozens of coats of clear colors are laid on the area with a small brush, building up the local color area. This building up of color goes on hour after hour of fine clean brush strokes played one against another, and then one on top of another—a hundred strokes to the minute, I was told by a man with a stopwatch who had timed me one day.In the evening there comes a third surface quality when the plaster is so thirsty that it drinks up every brushstroke, and literally quarts of thin watery paint is fed onto the plaster with small watercolor brushes. This forms that beautiful fine polished marble-like surface which is peculiar to the well painted fresco.While earlier in the day the plaster almost rejects the paint, now it is the most joyful kind of cooperation, of action, between the plaster and the painter. I know of no such response in any other creative medium—it is as if the painting had been born for this short period of time for it responds with its glorious luminous surface and it accepts each caressing brushstroke. Were it not for this hour or so of rewarding painting, I am very sure that the already very weary artist would have gone home hours before. Also, I am very sure that not all fresco artists have discovered this golden hour.Late in the day toward midnight we come to a short valuable period when the plaster develops a ravenous appetite and seems to pull the paint from the brush. This is the time we work to clinch the solidity of the brushwork.If ground begins to pull, or whitish dry spots appear, or if color becomes so thick, stop painting that area. Add sugar water and thinned milk as an anecdote for lime in lime.Then, about midnight, the plaster says, "sorry, no more." If you try to force it to take more paint and water, it actually almost spits it back at you. The day's painting is over whether or not you feel the work is right. Twenty or more hours of the maintaining of constant recollection is behind you, and all of you aches with weariness; yet all of you is joyful over having been given another fresco day. The day's painting is then over—22 hours at a northern latitude, further south 12 or 14 or 16 hours before crystallization begins to set it. Sometime before, nearer the middle of the day, the leftover edge was carefully trimmed away. Any unpainted or unfinished part are now trimmed out down to the plaster coat underneath to await another day similar to this one. Since it was my technique to lay each piece of plaster larger than I intended to paint so that the surrounding areas held the moisture longer, the trimming process in my work took a little longer than usual.Finally tomorrow's section is marked off on the wall and is given a good soaking with water. Each day the drama is re-enacted—piece by piece, day by day, as the painting grows toward completion.The day's stretch of twenty hours of hard physical labor, of constant creative awareness, is over—and more twenty hour days, are just ahead. How can one continue to paint these twenty hour stretches? I have found I can do it by working on a 48-hour day. But this sounds even worse—perhaps I will have to tell you how it is done.This strange day begins about noon, when I get up and go to the job—cleaning up brushes and paints from the day before, and getting all in readiness for the painting session. This takes until dinnertime, followed by an early bedtime. 3:30 in the morning comes early and at 4 the plasterer and myself are on the job, beginning this 20 hour stretch. Meals are eaten on the scaffold. I have often wondered who took Michelangelo his meals—up there so high on the scaffold in the Sistine Chapel; it wouldn't have been so bad for Fra Angelico—he had a corps of Brothers to wait on him, but Michelangelo worked alone.After the paintings dry it is absolutely permanent; the paint penetrates the surface of the plaster, is incorporated with it, and the two dry together, the crystalline surface of the plaster forms like a glass on the color and fixes it for all time. Its beauty increases with age, and given proper protection can easily last 1,000 years—as long as the wall lasts. If removed to a new wall its life can go on and on.

Repairs and Retouchings

Sometimes atmospheric conditions peculiar to a certain day affect the life of the plaster; sometimes the painter isn't up to par, or hasn't made adequate preparations; perhaps curious visitors come at the wrong moment; many things may happen, and it always seems a miracle if nothing outside oneself happens which might forbid the painting from coming through right. In any event, knowing how to lay the intonaco layer is an important part of your skills because you may find that you must chisel out a section and do it over again.

For touch ups:

• Do not start touch ups before 4 weeks, give fresco that long to dry.
  



• Use casein, apply by means of hatching.
  



• Try Wax ammonia—mix thick, like soft cheese with very little water—mix with powdered color by rubbing two together with an old round brush and stiple on.
  



• Use zinc white for white.
  



• To remove whitewash over a painting—hammer covered with leather, or a wooden hammer—go carefully only for a short time in a given area. Spatula like instruments also help to lift off limewash coat of strong casein, which also helps to lift off limewash.

"BorderTown"

Recently I watched this movie "BorderTown," Starring Jennifer Lopez. I was really moved by the subject the movie protrays and how this movie's storyline falls so close to our home, El Paso. This film defines the reality of our border and the truths our border divides between Mexico and the United States. This flim is shocking in depicting the lies and corruption even murder that local authorites cover up and still continue today for the fact of reproduction in factories and consumption of money. I have decided to research this subject that so many try to cover up to make aware that these actions and murders and poverty are happening across the border that we pass or glance by on our way to work or Utep. It is a struggle everyday for the people of Mexico. While here in the United States we are open to opportunity and have laws and rights that help us shape our economy and lifestyles making it managable to excell and provide for our families! This will be my research topic...please feel free to comment and give me your opinion....I highly recommend you watch this movie because it is happening today as I write this and we should be so lucky to be living here in the United States as American citizens, having rights that others wish they could have!

Claim: "BorderTown," a film production inspired by true events, is a powerful as well as inspirational story depicting the border's truth in dividing two types of "realities," between the United States and Mexico, making it rhetorical.

Reason:

1) The border dividing the United States and Mexico is very rhetorical because it depicts two different "realities"/ "Truths." The government is different, the ecomomy is different, education is different. Women are more accessible to work in factories, making low wages, endagering their lives because of late hours, and poor security as well as benifits.

2) No Stable government because Mexico does not require you to pay taxes. In the United States our taxes pay for our government. We have rights unlike Mexicans/Latinos across the border.

3)We have "Freedom of Speech," "Protection," and "Benifits." We have those rights as American citizens. The border divides those rights. Mexico does not entitle or enforce these rights. Mexico is very corrupt with high poverty. No opportunities unlike the United States. The government is run with the mentality consisting of two laws in Mexico 1) money and influence 2) everyone else. Here in the United States we regulate laws, we are well educated and know how to use the rights we have to provide opportunity and power.

Warrant: How film productions such as, "BorderTown," change its viewers prospective about the border.

A Day Without A Mexican

Rhetoric is an epistemic art (creates knowledge) that forges a reality for an audience by a persuasive and informed rhetor, who wants to incite action or further discourse in order to alter perceptions of change.

Claim:
Film Productions depicting the Mexican/ Latino culture, specifically, “A Day without a Mexican,” is rhetorical.

Reason: Because the film seeks to persuade it’s viewers that…

1) People take for granted the work Latinos, legal or illegal, do in the economy.

2) The film depicts Latinos as housekeepers while at the same time showing them having jobs such as teachers, doctors, and executives that are a major part in shaping our economy.

3) The film narrows the positive and negative retrospect both cultures Latino/Anglos have in our economy.

Warrant: How Latino film productions change its viewers prospective in society.

Research Topic

Claim: Spanglish, a multicultural movie, is rhetorical.

Reason: Because it seeks to persuade its viewers of the struggle in class, race, success, parenting, ambition, pride, and disappointment between two women, Deborah Clasky, a laid off Los Angeles wife, and Flor, the Mexican single mom she hires to be her housekeeper. It compares the way Mexican culture is protrayed in the media's eyes, as well as the American culture.

Warrant: The viewer's prospective of Mexican and American culture is altered when the media twists the reality of Mexican and American culture, making it rhetorical.

Definition: Rhetoric is an epistemic art (creates knowledge) that forges a reality for an audience by a persuasive and informed rhetor, who wants to incite action or further discourse in order to alter perceptions of change.

I had not really thought about rhetoric or knew what is was or ment until last semester when I took English with Mrs. Ramirez, where she introduced me to rhetoric and what it represented. I am amazed as to how many things in life that we encounter or hear is rhetorical. I chose the movie "Spanglish" as my research topic because I feel that it represents many rhetorical observations. It depicts the way Mexican/Latino culture is viewed in society as well as the traditional American culture, and all of life's struggles.

Writer's Three-Month Walkout Ends

“Writer’s Three-Month Walkout Ends”

Analyzing an article written by The Associated Press, “Writers Vote to End 3-Month Walkout,” February 13, 2008. As working citizens, should we not be paid for the labor we put in? Hollywood writers believe they should be paid for the hard work they put into writing scripts for producers, giving them credibility for their hard efforts.
The article introduces its (logos) as a crucial, three month walkout bringing the entertainment industry to a standstill ending when Hollywood writers voted to lift their union’s strike order allowing them to return back to work. Residuals for TV shows and movies distributed online was the most contentious issue in the bitter dispute involving 12,000-member union and the world’s largest media companies and other producers. The author is focused more on the writers at this point because they are the main focal point in this issue concerning media companies and other producers. It is assumed in the article that producing companies were withholding monies from TV shows and movies distributed online. After an approved contract by the union’s board of directors, writers would get a maximum flat fee of about $1,200 for streamed programs in the deal’s first two years and then get 2 percent of a distributor’s gross in year three, a key union demand. Other provisions included increase residual payments for downloaded movies and TV programs. The author presents the argument of writers not being compensated with pay for aired or downloaded TV shows or movies directly online. He then presents a solution to the problem by stating that the union’s board of directors approved a contract to insure writers get paid for their work whether it be aired on television or downloaded online.
Patric Verrone, president of the guild’s West Coast Chapter states, “These advances now give us a foothold in the digital age.” “Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as television migrates to the Internet.” Patric Verrone’s statement in this article ensures that writers now hold more power to how much money will be made since the new generation era deals with more technology and relies more on internet usage and digital devices, streaming up revenue for the internet as well as for writers, producers, and actors.
The publisher introduces its (pathos) in the article by stating that the writers who voted in New York and Beverly Hills were overwhelmingly in favor of ending the strike with a value of 3.492 voting yes, with only 283 voting to stay off the job. As statistics show most writers were happy about the outcome and eager to return back to work. Chris Mundy, co-executive producer of CBS’ drama “Criminal Minds,” stated “It will be all hands on deck for the writing staff.” He hopes to get some scripts written and aired right away, with about seven episodes airing by the end of May. Although, writers were ecstatic about returning back to work, not all shows will get back on the air. The article states that networks might not resume production of low-rated programs that have a questionable future. Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which stages the Oscars, expressed relief when the strike ended. Ganis states, “I am ecstatic that the 80th Academy Awards presentation can now proceed full stream ahead,” without “hesitation or discomfort” for the nominees he said.
The article referring back to Hollywood writers concerns, states that writers did not vote on whether to accept the tentative deal, which was reached after a Feb. 1 breakthrough between union negotiators and studio executives. The guild will mail contract ratification ballots to members over the next few days. Writers may vote at meetings. All ballots must be cast by Feb. 25. The effect of the walkout stopped work for dozens of TV shows. The strike took a $ 3.2 billion toll in direct and indirect cost on economy of Los Angeles County, the home of most of the nation’s TV and film production, according to a new estimate from Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. Pressure to reach an agreement mounted after the studio alliance reached a tentative contract Jan. 17 with the Directors Guild of America. The deal also brought improved payment for content offered on the internet. With saying so, the (ethos) is presented giving credibility to the writer’s work because of the deal made by the union’s board of directors. Michael R. Perry, a writer for “Persons Unknown and other TV dramas stated that the deal made him hopeful the guild and studios could be “partners in a growing pie” of Internet revenue. Although, “Hollywood’s labor pains may not be over,” states Jonathan Handel, an entertainment attorney with the Los Angeles firm of TroyGould and a former associate counsel for the writers guild. He points out that the contract between studios and the Screen Actors Guild is due to expire in June.
The article sends mixed signs as to whether this argument will arise again to another difficult negotiation. The actors face all of the new-media issues that writers as well as directors face.

Unfairness in the Work industry...."reality check"

How many of us have come across some form of unfairness in the work industy? Well if you have you are not alone. A current study showed that about $64 billion dollars are spent yearly on matters concerning unfairness in the work industry after inproper management. After reading an article in "The Boston Globe," titled "Use emotional intellegence to handle workplace Unfairness," by Elaine Varelas, it stated many personal entries that people encounter in their workplace concerning race, gender, age, and religion. Here is what someone had to say about a personal experience of unfairness in his/her workplace ...."I just read an article on an emotionally unstable employee. My question is what if the employer has provoked an incident, such as a dishonest, insulting performance review ? I have had an excellent work record for 11 years, but I am not promoted, not because of my skills, but for not sucking up to the boss. I took my complaint all the way to HR and the CEO, and was told that all my previous reviews mean nothing even though they indicate I should be advancing. My boss said to me in front of HR and the CEO that I have too high an opinion of myself and I should think less of myself. What kind of a man or manager does that and expects some kind of respect in return? How much can an employee take?"



Elaine's response to this question stated ...."Difficult people are everywhere. In the workplace, they come in all forms: coworkers, customers, even bosses. How difficult a person is for you to deal with depends on your self-respect, self-confidence, and emotional intelligence. Dealing with difficult people is easier when the person is just generally offensive or when the behavior effects other people. Dealing with difficult people is much tougher when you feel you are under attack, when you feel demoralized at work, and when the person you perceive as difficult is in a position of power. Practicing emotional intelligence, as outlined by best-selling author Dr. Daniel Goleman, involves self awareness, self-control, empathy (understanding others), and conflict management.
You have exercised your option to disagree with your performance review. Your challenge is to continue this difficult and crucial conversation in a positive way.
Sue Penchansky, senior HR consultant for KGA, a Framingham firm specializing in employee assistance programs, suggests not to "have this conversation until you have done your homework first." She also recommended consulting additional conflict resolution resources such as "Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High," by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, and Stephen R. Covey -- a well respected resource on how to keep your own cool while encouraging others to do the same. According to the authors, you have three choices about such conversations: You can avoid them, face them poorly, or face them well. You will be more successful, and probably enjoy your job a whole lot more, if you face them well."

As it is plain to see, it all depends on how you handle the situation at hand when you come across it at work and prosume it as unethical or unfair. My advice is not to handle an unfair situation at work "emotionally" but "professionally" and direct. Try not to take the situation to a level where it affects you emotionally and you react on the way you feel rather than on your intellegence, because the truth of the matter is that business does not rely or function on your emotions or the way you feel about a certain "unfair" situation, but rather the business and how to make the situation dissolve.

My Grandmother

My grandmother was a wonderful and loving person. She recently passed away this New years Eve. She is in fact not my real grandmother, for I never knew her due to the fact that she passed away when my mother was born. My real grandfather gave my mother up for adoption when she was an infant due to the fact that she was the only girl and he thought by doing so he would be giving her a better life than he could possibly give her. Those days were hard and the labor was tough and my grandfather did not want my mother to experience that kind of rough time or hard labor. So my real grandmother's first cousin, whom I call my grandmother, adopted my mother taking full custody. According to my mother, she gave her the best possible childhood anyone could ask for. She was my mother's guardian, mother, and best friend! I loved my grandmother so much, she always made the best Mexican food! She had such a beautiful garden as well, it amazed me when I was a little girl, she really had a green thumb! My grandma showed me many things while she was alive. She taught me how to appreciate life and never to cry over spilled milk...yes I know simple things, but things that we don't stop to realize and think hey life really isn't as bad as it may seem at times. She taught me never to cry over something you can replace, it's those things that you can't replace that are worth crying for. I learned how to speak Spanish through my grandmother, I had to pretty much because that is all she spoke. There were times when I made her laugh so hard because I pronounced things wrong, but I honestly was trying =) The last time I saw my grandmother was on Christmas day, it was by far the best gift God could have given me, one more day with my grandmother. I will never forget my grandmother and all she taught me, she will remain in my heart forever!