America as a Melting Pot

In many ways America is still the melting pot that it has been since its existence. For many people who are foreign to America want to come here in search of the American dream. This creates a flood of people from all around the world traveling and moving to America. With this manny different cultures are here and these cultures begin to spread and mesh together. Creating influences on music, movies, and all of popular culture as a whole. America is the most diverse country in the nation because of all the immigration. Manny of the immigrants become Americanized once they get here. They become interested in the popular culture of American and leave some of the values of their old country behind. The American trends are starting to spread across the world, influencing even more people to come to America. Now that some immigration is starting to get out of control regulations and restrictions are being put in place to limit some of it. Over immigration from one country wouldn't work and would bring down the melting pot type of society that has been created in America. With this the border between Mexico and America has been strictly enforced to try to prevent illegal immigration. Many people don't want all the illegal immigration that is going on and are doing everything they can to prevent it.

Identity, Society, and Culture

Many of us in America may take the way we live for granted, with the easy access to technology, reliable transportation, and just living the American dream. For many Americans this still may not be true, but these people still lead better lives than many people around the world, such as people living in third-world countries. As Americans we may categorize people we see from where the come from in the world, rather than actually getting to know that person. People see the skin color of a person, or the origin of their family and begin to make judgments and think about the stereotypes that are related to this individual. Also we don't see a society that is any different that the one we live in. People believe that if it is not the American society, then it is not right. This also happens when Americans encounter different cultures. They may not believe that some of the customs that this unknown culture preforms is not right and from then on out, put down that culture for just one difference. This may not be the case from some people, but for many it is. Some people are open minded about what they encounter in the world and want to learn more about what they have discovered. These people think of the world as a place to learn and want to explore as much of it as they can. To me that would be the best way to live.

Organizing

When writing a research paper you have a great amount of information that needs to be picked through and analyzed in order to make a strong argument. The best way to find the best information and make connections with random facts is to organize. You can either choose to make a visual diagram of the information that you have or you can make an outline, summarizing your whole paper. The visual flow chart is a great way to see how your paper is going to line up and where you need to start. You are able to make connections and group all the random information into different groups of bubbles, that can later be turned into paragraphs. An outline works pretty much the same way, just without a visual chart to go by, but small points and details about main ideas. With these different types of organization you need to spotlight exactly what it is that you are arguing. Start off with the question you are trying to answer or the problem that is going to be discussed. In the outline, the sources need to be integrated, in order to remember where you got the information from. If there are direct quotations used in the paper these need to be noted and cited. With an outline set up you will be able to write the paper much easier because now there is a guideline to follow. Outlines are very useful, and are defiantly recommended when writing a long research paper.
                                     -Cody

Bigger, Stronger, Faster

Steroid use in today's sports has become a huge problem, with more and more athletes faltering under the pressure and giving in to steroid use. In the Bigger, Stronger, Faster poster many famous athletes are shown without revealing their faces, but showing their uncharacteristically huge muscles. These athletes have become icons in their sports, but now that the public has finally found out that these athletes have used steroids they are losing their public appeal. These steroid using famous athletes are putting pressure on young athletes to become big and strong, convincing them to also use steroids to get attention from colleges or even major league sports teams. The steroid usage was at an all time high in the nineteen eighties when many olympic athletes were doping up along with many baseball and football players. Also steroid  use became a huge problem with distance athletes, such as cross country skiers-runners, triathletes, and many swimmers and cyclist. The poster depicts how this craze is really taking off in the United States, because of the American flag in the background. These drugs were made for people that actually needed the boost in muscle growth like aids patients and people who suffer from muscular dystrophy. Now these athletes have found ways to abuse them and become super humans, and there needs to be a stop put to this.
                                   -Cody

Note Taking

Everyone has takes notes when they are writing a research paper, in order to get the full affect from their research. When i am researching a topic for a paper i will take notes on note cards so i can easily organize my thoughts into categories. Once i have completed my research i usually have some type of system i will categorize my cards in, such as color coating. To prevent myself from mistakingly plagiarizing someone else's writing i will take the note and either put it in quotes so i can cite the original author in my paper, or summarized what i read or got out of the whole piece. This helps me get the general idea of what i read about but not taking the author's words and just spinning them. In-text citations come in handy when writing a paper because you can use someone else's thought to strengthen your argument, and not steal it from them. This gives them full credit and also gives the reader another source for further reading if they are interested. By using MLA format and citing all of the sources used in the paper is also another great way of preventing yourself from plagiarism. I tend to do as much as i can to prevent myself from accidentally plagiarizing someone else's work. Good note taking is the key to do a proficient job when writing an argumentative paper.
                                          -Cody

Arguments

To form a strong argument you have to, order your facts in a convincing way, to make a valid point. Not only does this have to be convincing to the reader, but you have to present your information in a sophisticated way. This will convince the reader to side with you, the writer, and you will have a successful argument. In the two interviews there are two different strategies used in order to gain the sides of the readers. In the first, Terence Smith, has interviewed many people on how the coverage of war has changed by becoming more high tech. He interviews people on how the reporting of was used to be, and how it has changed. What we actually see on TV or in your local newspaper is not actually the whole story with the war. The army can not take the risk of getting compromised therefore locations and live reporting are prohibited for the most part. This different arrangement of where the information comes from makes Smith's argument more effective. Next the interview with George Ritzer uses a different approach to capture the readers. Ritzer uses his knowledge and many facts to make a crucial argument. There are different ways to gain respect from your readers to understand your argument and these two interviews are examples.
                                          -Cody

Stereotypes

Many people create stereotypes as they come in contact with more and more people, especially about sports. In high schools people that play sports may be characterized as the dumb jocks and just don't know what they are talking about. In the book, the stereotypes about NBA basketball players are analyzed. Most people may associate basketball with African American culture or the hip-hop culture. This can be seen in many magazines that are about basketball. SLAM magazine is a perfect example of this. While this magazine's sole purpose is to dive deeper into the would of basketball around the country and around the globe, many of the advertisements are for hip-hop artist or clothing brands that are aimed toward an African American customer. This creates stereotypes for the occasional reader that may just want to read the magazine to learn about what is going on in the world of basketball. They begin to see these advertisements and link basketball to the hip-hop culture. Many other magazines are examples of this too. Usually any magazine that you pick up today is about one certain hobby or idea. Within each of these periodicals, the advertisements are aimed to the avid reader, and because of this, occasional readers create these stereotypes that no one likes.