Where Has October Gone?

I can't believe that it's almost November. It feels like October has just flown by, and I'm sure that I will end up feeling the same way about November. I have been really busy, and it doesn't help that I have had things to do on the weekends for the past few weeks. I'd really just like a weekend where I didn't have a ton of work and my friends and I could just go to DC or something and just hang out. But the next few weekends are going to be fun nonetheless! This coming weekend is Halloween, which I am excited about, and I also have a horse show at William and Mary's on Sunday, which means we have to leave on Saturday and stay overnight. The weekend after that a few of my friends and I who are in the gymnastics club are going with the club to cheer them on at their first meet at Virginia Tech. Both of these trips are going to be really fun, and I am looking forward to seeing the VT campus because I have never been there before. Also, this horseshow will be the first one I have competed in in college, so I am excited and a little nervous to see how that goes.

Speaking of horses, this past weekend was a sad one down at the campus barn. On Sunday morning they had to put one of thier horses, Nordic, down because they found out that he had broken his leg. Initially they thought it was just a cut, but it ended up being a hairline fracture that he damaged more when he went to stand up during the night. It's so horrible when horses break thier legs because there is really nothing you can do to save them. There are some procedures but they are extremely expensive and don't guarantee anything...it would basically be just to save it's life because you probably couldn't really ride them ever again. Putting a horse down is such a hard descision to make, and my heart goes out to all of the people who were really close to him and had to make that decision on Sunday.

A Fun Weekend...

After a crazy week it was nice to hang out with my friends this weekend and just have fun. Although on Friday afternoon I had to go down to the barn and clean for the Equestrian Club, I had fun Friday night when we all went to go get our Halloween costumes at the PG Plaza. Me and my 4 friends decided to be the Spice Girls, so we went to Ross's and Marshall's and got crazy dresses. Then we went to Target and got some cookie dough, which we ate when we got back to our dorm and were watching Center Stage :). I wasn't able to go to the football game on Saturday, but I did something even better. I got to go on a trail ride with the Equestrian Team at a barn called Waredaca. They have a ton of property and we got to ride through the woods and the cross country fields that they have there. The weather was gorgeous and it was so peaceful. Then my friend Rebecca and I went to gymnastics, and when we got back a bunch of us crashed in my room and watched She's The Man - I forgot how much I loved that movie! This morning I got to ride Demo down at the campus barn, who is so cute and so much fun to ride. Now I'm just trying to get all of my homework done so I can relax tonight!

Rhetorical Analysis #2

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=120&sid=07ffec13-e080-4ca6-b907 cf0b4c64fd6a%40sessionmgr102&bdata=JmxvZ2lucGFnZT1Mb2dpbi5hc3Amc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl#db=aph&AN=34014193

"Changing Our Ways Is Possible" by Wayne Pacelle

The article linked above is actually the text to a speech given by Wayne Pacelle, the President of the Humane Society of the United States, in April of this year on defending animals against abuse. His speech was meant to move the audience, and therefore contains all three rhetorical appeals. When giving a speech, ethos is required so that your audience will take you seriously and listen to the things that you have to say. Pacelle establishes ethos in the beginning of his speech by both his elevated and sophisticated language and his affiliation with an organization that has been around and successful for many years - the Humane Society. His passion for animals can clearly be detected, even through writing, and this makes the speaker's ethos even stronger.
Perhaps the most important rhetorical appeal when making a speech is pathos, and Mr. Pacelle does this extremely well. The goal of this speech is to get people to realize that animals do not deserve to be treated cruelly and to inform people on the types of abuse that are occurring in today's world. In order to achieve his goal effectively, the speaker first described animals in a way may have caused the audience to look at them in a different light: "Animals have the same spark of life that we have....they want to live just as badly as we do...they can feel playful or angry...affectionate or afraid...sad or joyful". Pacelle not only places himself and the audience on the same level by using 'we' repeatedly, but also places human kind and animals on the same level by showing life's essential emotions are present both in the human mind and the animal mind. The speaker also draws on the emotions of the audience through his use of adjectives. For example, he talks about how animal "cruelty is on a vast scale...more systematic and ruthless than before". His descriptions of "clubbing and killing newborn seal pups" in Canada and the whale-hunting industry in Japan all cause the listener to become sympathetic with his cause. In order to make pathos effective, however, you have to be sure that the audience will not only have a changed emotional state while listening, but also in the future. One way that the speaker does this is give factual stories about animal abuse that effect a large number of people on an everyday basis. This combination of pathos and logos makes the speech that much more effective. One of the stories that is told concerns a slaughterhouse in California that was part of the largest ever meat recall in the United States. The pathos of this story lies with the description of so called 'downer cows' - cows who are unable to move themselves around: "The downer cows were being tormented with electricity to make them stand. They were rammed with forklifts. They even had a high-pressure water hose forced into their nostrils to simulate a drowning effect, so that the ailing animals would get up and move closer to the slaughter area". These descriptions are graphic and probably disgusted and infuriated his audience. The logos within the story is seen when the consequences of these actions were described, such as how 'downer cows' were more likely to contract mad cow disease, and how meat from this specific plant could possibly be infected with salmonella and e coli. These issues grab people's attention because they could be directly effected. Overall, the rhetorical appeals apparent in this speech were used both cleverly and effectively.

This Weekend

This weekend turned out to be really fun. My parents came down on Friday for family weekend. They got down here in the late afternoon since they had to drive all the way down from CT, which is at least 5 hours. That gave me time to get some work done before they got here. So after my parents checked into their hotel, they came to campus and dropped off all of the things that I asked them to bring from home, like some winter clothes and food. I got the weirdest gift of all from my Grandma (which i guess I should have expected) - a box of Halloween candy, mandarin oranges and a giant pack of pringles. I'm not sure what possessed her to pick up that combo at the grocery store, but my roommate and I will definitely eat them! On Friday night, my parents took me and 3 of my friends out for dinner to this Greek restaurant in Silver Spring. The food was really good, and I was excited to eat some real seafood for a change! After dinner my parents took us to Coldstone, and then dropped us back off at the dorm. Saturday morning my mom and dad picked me up around 9:30 and we got breakfast at the College Park Diner. Real eggs were a welcome change. We then drove to the tack shop with my roommate and her mom and we both got new boots and show jackets and shirts. It was quite exciting. Saturday afternoon we took the metro into D.C. and saw the Washington Monument and the White House - I had never been down there before so that was a cool experience. Saturday night I stayed with my parents in their hotel, and Sunday morning they brought me back to campus to watch me ride at the farm. We then got tons of Maryland gear from the Book Exchange and went to Potbelly's for lunch - the sandwiches there are really good! Before my parents left, I showed them Comcast and the Rec Center. It was really good to see them and show them my life down here, but I'm sad my sister couldn't come down to visit. I just found out that she's coming down when my Dad comes to pick me up for winter break, so I'll get to show her around then. She's a freshman but she made the varsity field hockey team, so I hear she's been super busy lately. Hopefully things will calm down for her soon! I definitely miss my family and am excited to go home for Thanksgiving, but I am having an amazing time here too!

Family Weekend...and Diner Food

I am so excited to see my parents this weekend! I'm sad that my sister won't be able to come down, but she's really busy so I understand. One of the best parts of this whole weekend is the fact that I won't have to eat diner food! Thanks goodness...my parents are taking my roomate and I out for seafood on Friday night and I am way more excited that I should be, but oh well. The diner food was okay in the beggining but I have been increasingly getting tired of it. Once in a while there is something good, but the thing that always annoys me is the fact that none of the food is ever hot. I think that the food would taste a whole lot better if things weren't always room temperature. Not to mention the fact that everything is super expensive. I have been eating healthy but doing that costs so much more - we are supposed to be down to 750 this week and I am already down to 610! And lately I have been using terps bucks to get breakfast, so I am only eating 2 meals a day from the dining halls. I guess I'll just have to use this weekend as an opportunity to eat some good food!

Too Much To Do...

In high school, I was only involved in 2 clubs and didn't play any sports. I horseback rode throughout the year, but that was only 2 days a week as opposed to the 6 or 7 days a week that I know high school sports teams practice. I also tutored 2 days a week, but that was right after school and was only until 4:30. Coming to college, I knew that I wanted to get involved in some organizations and be on the equestrian team, but I never realized how much I would end up doing. I am now not only on the equestrian team but also involved in the equestrian club. In addition, I also joined the Pre-Vet club and the gymnastics club (which is purely for fun...I really like it!). All of these clubs have meetings, there are days that I can volunteer with the Pre-Vet club, and there are horse shows to go to for the team. On top of all of this I have my school work and various assignments for my Scholars program. Last night I realized that I have something going on every weekend from now until Thanksgiving. All of the things are fun, but I never thought I would be this busy! I enjoy having things to do, especially things that I love, but I definitely have to keep myself organized if I am going to keep up with my work and not feel like I'm going crazy. This week has been especially hectic because I had two exams already and have a chem midterm on Friday which I have to study for tomorrow. But I guess this is why college is so different from high school - you are starting to be involved in things that you really care about. Regardless, I have been having a great time here and only hope that it will continue to be that way.

Rhetorical Analysis

The Volkswagon commercial draws on various forms of rhetorical appeals in order to persuade the viewer that the Volkswagon brand of cars is superior. The most prominent appeal is probably pathos, specifically drawing on humor to engage the viewer. This commercial is obviously aimed at a younger audience – there are references to various items of pop culture, plus the main character is a young male. What makes the commercial funny is the fact that the German scientist is referencing American pop culture, not the young male who owns the car. The scientist tells the young guy that he is going to ‘un-pimp’ his ride; he is obviously referring to the popular show ‘Pimp My Ride’ that used to air on MTV. Also, he quotes a line from a popular rap song- ‘drop it like it’s hot’. His whole monologue is humorous because of the stark contrast between his accent, his age, and his pop culture references. This makes the commercial very memorable and creates the image that Volkswagon brand cars are not only representative of the German auto industry but also very hip and cool to own.
These two facts lead into the use of the remaining rhetorical appeals – ethos and logos. The ethos in the commercial is the fact that the car is a Volkswagon. The brand Volkswagon is very well known and provides credibility to a silly commercial. Also, the fact that the scientist is from Germany adds credibility because the brand is originally from Germany. The logos that the commercial is trying to promote is the fact that if you own a Volkswagon car, you will be cooler than even the person who has a ‘pimped out car’. The young guy in the commercial originally has a car that the woman gives him an ‘F’ for. After his car gets crushed by the new Volkswagon, he gets the stamp of approval from the woman, and one can deduce, from his friends. This can actually be called a logical fallacy. It is not a logical proof that if you buy a Volkswagon car, you will become cooler than you were before. This is simply a way of making the viewer want a new car as almost a status symbol, which would make sense considering the audience that the commercial is directed at. A young teenager probably does not care about safety ratings and statistics about the car; rather, they would be concerned about the looks and popularity. This commercial uses all three rhetorical appeals, and does a good job of making the viewer remember and consider the product that it its advertising.

This week...

So I haven't had anything exciting to write about so I'm going to write about my week so far. The only thing that makes my Monday's bearable is the fact that my roommate and I have our riding lessons for the Equestrian Team on Monday nights. We joined the team at the beginning of the year, and it has been a lot of fun! We have lessons once a week at a barn called Waredaca, which is about 45 minutes from campus, and once in a while we get to compete in shows against other colleges. So on Monday we had our lesson at 8:00, and I learned quite a bit even though we only worked on flat work and not jumping. Tuesday I had a fairly easy day considering the fact that I decided not to go to my calc lecture and sleep in instead. Calculus has been really easy so far, so it really didn't matter that I missed a class. The only class I had on Tuesday was my animal science lab. In lab, we got to go out to the barn and put our hand into the stomach of the fistulated cow, plus we dissected chickens-which was pretty gross, but interesting nonetheless. That night my friend and I went to yoga at the rec center, which was a good break from work. Wednesdays are my crazy days because I have almost every class plus my two hour Scholars colloquium. Our speaker in colloquium was a man who works on the Chesapeake Bay and studies the different species of marine life - he was pretty entertaining. Today I had my chem lab until 6:30, which was not fun at all. I have come to really dislike chemistry, which isn't good considering I am going to have to take organic chem for the next two semesters for my major. I am definitely not looking forward to that. I am excited that it is finally Friday tomorrow-I think my roommate and I and a bunch of our friends are going to go see a movie. Then I'll be studying over the weekend because I have 3 midterms next week: animal science, calc and chemistry. Definitely not looking forward to those!

the time's flying by...

So it's hard to believe that we have already been in school for a month. Everyone has exams coming up either this week or next week - I can't believe we have actually been in classes long enough to be able to have an exam. Tomorrow is the first day of October - can you believe it? When my parents dropped me off that last week in August, it seemed as though the weekend that I would see them again was so far away. Now that weekend is almost here, and it's kind of scary to think how fast the time has gone by.
I have talked to one of my friends from home who is in college up in Massachusetts, and she just hasn't been happy at all. She is having issues with her roomate and hasn't really found those few people who she can hang out with all the time. I feel so lucky to have met so many great people who I get along with and can share some crazy times with, and I know that this year is going to be great!

Yankee's Fans?

So tonight is the last time that the Yankees will play in the historic Yankee Stadium...and I hope that they win! I have been a long time Yankee's fan so a final win in the stadium would be a great way to end an era. At this moment, they are losing by one run to the Orioles, but it's only the 2nd inning so they definitely have a chance for a comeback :) . Anyway, I have met quite a few football fans but not too many baseball fans. In Connecticut, there are a ton of baseball fans...mostly Yankees fans too. I just hope the Yankees win tonight!

Roomate Issues...

So we have been in college for a little less than a month now, and I can honestly say that the only issues that my roomate and I have are that she hates the airconditioner to be set at an uneven number. We have actually been getting along really well, and we have the same group of friends. Many people that I have talked to are getting along with their roomates, but haven't become really good friends. We have so many things in common, so I think that allowed us to get along so well. We have the same major, we both ride horses, we listen to the same music, and we both have the same sense of humor. I am so happy that I was placed with a roomate who I know I will be friends with in the future. We have to complete these roomate agreements, and we were laughing looking over the different catagories because we really don't know what to put in it. Anyway, I just feel lucky to have an awesome roomate!

Narrative...

Walking through the Stamp to go to class, regardless of the time of day, there is always somebody in line for McDonald's. Sure, stopping for some fast food may be convienent, and you may actually enjoy what you are eating, but have you ever stopped to think about the process that brought that hamburber, those chicken nuggets, or that egg sandwhich to your table? The production of animals for human consumption, espescially in the fast food industry, is usually poorly regulated in conditions that are less than favorable for both the animal and the employed worker.

Camping...

Over the weekend I went on a camping trip with the Life Sciences Scholars Program. We left around 6:00 on Friday night and didn't arrive at the camp ground (which was in Western Maryland) until about 11:30, due to traffic and the fact that we had to stop for about an hour to eat dinner. So we didn't get to bed until about 1:00 in the morning, and they decided that 6:45 would be a good time to wake us up in the morning - with pots and pans no less :( . Even though everyone was tired, Saturday turned out to be a fun day. First we traveled to a resorvoir where we collected different insects and tried (unsucessfully) to catch some fish. After wading through the river (and almost falling into it many, many times) our group got in canoes and rowed about 45 minutes down the river. The views were amazing, and it even rained as we paddled along-which was actually quite peaceful. One of the coolest parts of the trip happened once we finished canoeing and were loading the canoes back onto the truck to return to camp. We hearn rain starting to fall, and then we saw that a wall of rain was coming toward us. It was amazing to watch the rain come towards us, then over us, and then continue on over the resorvoir. After our canoe adventure, we returned to camp and hiked for about 30 minutes up to a bog. After wading through the bog, which is essentially mud up to your knees, the sophmores on the trip started a mud fight and chaos ensued. Everybody got ridiculously dirty, and upon returning back to camp we all jumped in the lake to try and get clean (well, mostly to get less dirty). Our day ended after dinner, when we sat down by the camp fire, made s'mores and also made apple crisp up in the kitchen. We left the campgrounds Sunday morning and I think that everybody crashed once we returned to our rooms in Cumberland. It was an exhausting weekend packed with activities, but I met some new people and shared a great experience with many of the people in Life Sciences.

A Reminder of Home...

One of my all time favorite things to do is horseback ride. I started riding in 8th grade with my best friend, and though she has since stopped riding, I have never stopped absolutely loving it. So the fact that the University has both an equestrian club and team was quite a selling point : ) I am lucky enough to have a roomate that loves horses just as much as I do, so last week we both attended the meeting for the UMD Equestrian Team and realized how excited we both were to get back to riding. Last night we had our first lesson with the team and it was wonderful! It just felt great to be doing something so familiar during a time when everything around me is in a constant state of change. We rode with four other girls at a barn called Waredaca, which is about 45 minutes away (I have no idea what town it's in-i'm from CT and have absolutely no sense of where this campus is in relation to,well, anything...). All I know is that knowing that I will get to ride is going to make getting up on Monday a little bit easier. And I am also hoping to join the equestrian club (i'm headed to the meeting now)-they take care of the horses that are here on campus (you should visit them!-they are pretty cute...). With all said and done, I am just happy that I don't have to give up horses or riding for any length of time, because I don't know what I would have done otherwise!