My refined show idea focuses on the ways colonialism was depicted in the documentary, “KONY 2012,” and it will encourage for a more nuanced understanding of the subject. I will include a variety of primary and secondary sources that will support my points.
Showing posts with label W14: Topic Refinement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label W14: Topic Refinement. Show all posts
Sunday, 9 February 2014
Sara Siddiqui, W14: Topic Refinement
The pitch exercise was extremely helpful to me. It
allowed me to be give a brief, to-the point summary of my topic. Two weeks ago,
when I finally picked a topic, “KONY 2012,” I was a little confused as to what
aspects of this documentary I should focus on. I was not sure whether I want to
emulate an On the Media-style podcast or Stuff You Missed in History podcast.
However, after having the opportunity to work on this pitch exercise, I had a
better understanding of what I should focus on and which podcast show I should
try to emulate. Moreover, this pitch exercise allowed me to consider my
audience, which is a vital factor that most podcasters consider when creating a
podcast episode. I believe the “pitch” is definitely a useful pre-writing
exercise in other assignments because it encourages one to narrow down his/her
topic and consider all aspects of the given assignment. Most importantly, it
leads us to ask and answer the question, “So what? Who cares?”
My refined show idea focuses on the ways colonialism was depicted in the documentary, “KONY 2012,” and it will encourage for a more nuanced understanding of the subject. I will include a variety of primary and secondary sources that will support my points.
My refined show idea focuses on the ways colonialism was depicted in the documentary, “KONY 2012,” and it will encourage for a more nuanced understanding of the subject. I will include a variety of primary and secondary sources that will support my points.
Topic Refinement
I was one of the people who signed up for a pitch presentation
date just before that approach was cancelled and we were assigned pitch
presentation dates. I had signed up for the 5th of February, so I thought
I had enough time to work on my pitch presentation. I was going to write it and
practice for a whole week. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed when I logged on
to Moodle and saw that I had been assigned to present on the 29th of
February. I panicked for a while, then I realized that I had to work on it….fast.
I was upset at first, since I have a terrible fear of public speaking and I
felt like I did not have enough time to do the assignment properly, but I look back
now and I am actually grateful.
The pitch presentation exercise helped me to refine and
decide upon my topic, in record time. I knew I had to present something feasible
and I did not want to look stupid in front of a group of people. I sincerely
believe that if I did not have to do the pitch exercise, I would still be
struggling with my topic. My refined idea happens to involve two of my favorite
things – Human rights and the media. I pitched to the On the Media podcast, and
my episode will present information gathered on DUI arrests and how they are
reported by the media. I will take a look at the impacts of media reporting on
all the people involved in these cases and I will also present my answer to the
question: should the media report DUIs? In my pitch, I only cited one main
incident, but in my final podcast I will be drawing on several case examples to
formulate my narrative.
I am glad to say, I now look forward to putting together my
podcast episode.
Topic Refinement
Having the task of doing a podcast pitch was a helpful part of this assignment for me. I feel it was simply an extra step to polishing out any extra, unnecessary material and refining my topic. I started out stuck in between two topics: the Antikythera machine, or a historical,architectural piece. As the blog posts progressed I was able to orient myself better on what my interests were passionate about and I chose to cover the media topic of the Ukrainian Maiden Revolution. The pitch helped me narrow down my topic, setting me closer to a precise question for my podcast discussion.
A pitch could definitely be useful for other assignments since it is simply another step/another chance to revise and refine your work.
So far, post-pitch, my refined show idea is to cover the question of Is/How the media reporting on the Ukrainian Euromaiden Revolution slandering Russia's hosting of the Olympics and adding to damages of the controversies and security threats of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi?
Emilia, W14: Topic Refinement
I found this pitch exercise quite helpful. I chose to write it on my refined topic, "Fuel Cells" (what they use to power electric cars). What I liked most about writing a pitch, was that it forced me to gather information and really flesh out my topic. For example, I was originally going to write a pitch on Humans Living on Mars, but after attempting the pitch, I realized it wasn't good enough. When I tried fuel cells however, it ended up coming together much easier and gave me confidence with the future of my assignment. Definitely a good exercise if you are unsure of your topic or if you need help breaking down information.
Topic Refinement
Personally, I felt the podcast
pitch exercise was extremely helpful. It allowed me to narrow my topic down to
the core questions I will need to research and answer. The main premise of my
podcast is examining the hidden social costs of individuals losing their
privacy (in reference to the NSA and Edward Snowden situation).
Time is of the essence, which is
why pitches are valuable and helpful. ‘The pitch’ is a useful pre-writing
exercise as it allows you to compare and contrast what information is more
significant than others. ‘The pitch’ enables you to provide listeners of the
podcast with the salient arguments that will be discussed in your actual audio
recording of the podcast. It provides a writer with a sense of direction and
structure. The best way to conduct your pitch is similar to the idea of an
‘elevator pitch’. A writer should go about their pitch as if they were in an
elevator with a publisher and they only have twenty-seconds to pitch their
idea.
In my podcast, I will also discuss
whether citizens of countries such as the United States, Canada, England,
France and Russia are really gaining a sense of security with these types of
surveillance methods.
I am excited to see how this
process will unfold.
W14: Shanice Grocia Topic Refinement
In developing a pitch, I think it definitely helped in refining and deciding a topic to do. Before my pitch, my topic was; “What are reasons producers and authors of books use Ebonics within their works when such a heavy controversial background surrounds the language?” Ebonics is a term that was coined by a 1970’s psychologist, and attempted to define African American English. However, in researching, I discovered that my question was way too broad and needed to be narrowed down and improved.
I think doing a ‘practice pitch’ is a great way to know if a topic is too broad or possible not something that quite interests you. The ‘pitch’ could be an extremely useful pre-writing exercise for other assignments.
That is how I came up with my new show idea, “Does a name indicate future criminal behavior?” A better targeted question to analyze and explore.
A snippet of my podcast transcript:
As a follow-up to the Freakonomics podcast, “How Much Does Your Name Matter?” I decided to focus on another issue, “Does a name indicate future criminal behaviour?”
The work of Levitt and Fryers’ discovered that the name a person holds does not directly correlate with their economic standing. However, the research I found suggests that a name does in fact relate to how people are perceived in society by:
1. Whether or not they will be offered certain jobs
2. The initial start and chances of juvenile behaviour.
In the study, “First Names and Crime” The authors, David Kalist and Daniel Lee stated that young citizens with less popular names could be more inclined towards crime because are treated differently by their peers, making it more difficult for them to form relationships (Kalist, Lee 2). Meaning it is not the name itself that is a problem, but rather the reaction and social environment that surrounds that name.
But bringing it back to my question, “Does a name indicate future criminal behavior?” can stem outward and connect to an issue within a community that is similar to racial profiling but instead can more or less be ‘name profiling’.
Saturday, 8 February 2014
Bariah Qadeer, W14: Topic Refinement
Hi Everyone!
The pitch
exercise did help me to refine and decide upon my topic because I had to
explain my topic and its importance in just 4 minutes. It seemed like a
challenge! However, I gained a positive response from the class and therefore
it has helped. It’s challenging due to the fact that you have to impress the
audience in just 4 minutes which means that your pitch should include the most
important and interesting parts of your topic. Even though it takes more than 4
days to prepare for these 4 minutes, it does help out in the end because you
have a clearer direction of where you’re headed with your research.
After this
experience, I believe that the pitch exercise will be a useful pre-writing
exercise in other writing assignments as well because it forces you to get to
the core aspect of your topic. This prevents your research question from
remaining vague. For example, in a thesis essay the pitch exercise can help you
to refine your thesis which is the most important part of the paper. Therefore,
the pitch is helpful!
My podcast will explore how language change affects us?
This will be done by closely analyzing the cultural implications of the “because
noun” phrase.
My Pitch Transcript:
Why’s the word “because”
so confusing?
Because language…
This is the new use of the word “because.” In the
blog, Language Log Ben Zimmer states that The American Dialect
Society has recognized “because” as the Word of the Year for 2013;
however, this has caused several linguistic issues. “Because” is known for its
use as a subordinating conjunction. Nonetheless Geoff Pullum wrote on Slate
where he insists that we should treat “because” as a preposition.
Linguists call this the “because noun” phrase. This phrase has become
popular due to its widespread use on the internet such as on Twitter. Grammar
Girl has talked about this “because noun” phrase as well but she focuses
more on the history and grammar of this word. On the other hand, Lexicon Valley
focuses on the actual uses of a word in context, meaning pragmatics
and this is why I will create my podcast for Lexicon Valley
We as writers are always writing and speaking in
different forums. The truth is that we all write formally for our academic
papers in universities and the rest of the time whenever we write it is not as
formal. For example, in blogs, texts and in our personal write-ups the writing
is informal. This indicates that we all are writers and should be
aware of the changes in language. Therefore, it is essential for us to know
that English is a living language. The Linguistic Society of America
also states that “languages are continually changing.” So I will begin
by analyzing the cultural implications of the “because noun” phrase on
us. Then based on different studies I will address the topic of how changing
language affects us as writers? Is it positive? Or negative for us? And to
find out, stay tuned! I hope you’ll hear my podcast!
Thank
You! J
Mahoney,
Nicole. "Language and Linguistics: Language Change." National Science Foundation.
National Science Foundation, n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
Pullum,
Geoff. "Why Do Dictionaries Insist That Because Is a Conjunction? It Is
Not." Slate Magazine.
The Slate Group, 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
Reed, and De
Smet. "How Language Change Sneaks in." Linguistic Society of America America
Whitman,
Neal. "Because as a Preposition." Quick
and Dirty Tips. Mignon Fogarty, Inc. and Macmillan Holdings, LLC., 18 Oct.
2013. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
Zimmer, Ben.
""Because" with Non-verbal Complement." Language Log. University of Pennsylvania
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