Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7yrkWivHqE

Reality

Defining "reality" is a difficult task. It is hard to describe something that encompasses so many different things. To me, "reality" is the word that includes everything that is actually happening at any given moment. It is pure, real, and unaltered. Sometimes, reality ends up getting skewed by certain situations. Reality is unique in the respect that it is one of the only things that cannot be affected by media or other forms of alteration. It may be perceived incorrectly at times, however reality is always pure. It is essentially a never ending string of unfiltered events. Always candid, always truthful. Once it becomes skewed, it is no longer "reality." For example, people tend to remember situations differently than how they actually happened, usually favoring themselves more in the memory. Let's say that two people get in an argument. Typically, both people think they are not at fault because they both perceive the reality of the argument differently. If the situation is looked at objectively, the reality of it is a lot more evident. Although the perception of reality can become skewed, only the unfiltered, unaltered version can truly be called "reality."

Academic Integrity Pledge

I pledge to complete this course with academic integrity as I feel that cheating is not only hurtful to others but it also hurts the person who does it. This course is designed to assess our knowledge of rhetoric and our  ability to write and it would not be an honest assessment if we plagiarize. Plagiarism, although one of the less serious crimes in life, should not be taken lightly because one of the only things a person can truly own is what they say. Someone's thoughts should be theirs and no one else's therefore plagiarism is a serious crime.  I will complete this course with honesty and I will only turn in work that is purely my own. I pledge to not only uphold academic integrity but also integrity in my everyday life.

Cartoon Blog

This cartoon is symbolic of the Tucson shooting, where six people were killed and a Congresswoman was seriously injured.  This is in the form of a board game conveying that violence is sometimes not viewed as seriously as it should be, and also it is a never ending cycle. It also shows the steps of extreme acts of violence and how it begins with blaming someone and the media hypes up certain situations. The cycle repeats because all of these steps subsequently lead to the beginning of the cycle again. It is interesting that they put it in a game setting. When someone lands on the "blame game" they choose from a spin wheel of what to blame showing that there is really no strategy when blaming. This cartoon shows how society is a giant never ending game and how the Tucson shooting will be forgotten about eventually when the next shooting comes around.

First Blog Entry

My name is Meri Faulkner. I was born in Southern Pines, North Carolina and I lived there for eighteen years. I graduated from The O'Neal School, a small private school in the area. My graduating class had forty-six people in it so coming to Clemson is definitely a significant change for me. I am currently a business major, however my goal is to switch my major to special education.