Thursday, December 11, 2008
Creating the Outline
You should create an outline to draw from for your essay test on next Tuesday
First: brainstorm. write down allof you r ideas about the pictures and the reasons, and your feelings about it. Make sure you consider all sides of the people involved and their feelings and rights.
Gather ideas from the transcript and listening.
Create your outline.
Four Main Components for Effective Outlines
Ideally, you should follow these four suggestions to create an effective outline. The examples are taken from the Sample Outline handout.
Parallelism - How do I accomplish this?
Each heading and subheading should preserve parallel structure. If the first heading is a verb, the second heading should be a verb. Example:
1. Choose Desired Colleges
2. Prepare Application
("Choose" and "Prepare" are both verbs. The present tense of the verb is usually the preferred form for an outline)
Coordination - How do I accomplish this?
All the information contained in Heading 1 should have the same significance as the information contained in Heading 2. The same goes for the subheadings (which should be less significant than the headings). Example:
1. Visit and evaluate college campuses
2. Visit and evaluate college websites
1. Note important statistics
2. Look for interesting classes
(Campus and websites visits are equally significant. They are part of the main tasks you would need to do. Finding statistics and classes found on college websites are parts of the process involved in carrying out the main heading topics.)
Subordination - How do I accomplish this?
The information in the headings should be more general, while the information in the subheadings should be more specific. Example:
1. Describe an influential person in your life
1. Favorite high school teacher
2. Grandparent
(A favorite teacher and grandparent are specific examples from the generalized category of influential people in your life.)
Division - How do I accomplish this?
Each heading should be divided into 2 or more parts. Example:
1. Compile resume
1. List relevant coursework
2. List work experience
3. List volunteer experience
(The heading "Compile resume" is divided into 3 parts.)
Technically, there is no limit to the number of subdivisions for your headings; however, if you seem to have a lot, it may be useful to see if some of the parts can be combined.
All Sections in Developing an Outline
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Debating the Ethics of Those Creepy McCain Photos
12/4/2008 1:29:32 PM
When photographer Jill Greenberg’s editors at the Atlantic asked her to photograph John McCain for the magazine's October issue, she swallowed her distaste and delivered the benevolent-looking images they sought. But she couldn’t cast her disgust aside, so she snapped a second set of photos that better captured her own feelings for McCain. Compared to the warm, well-lit portraits that ended up in the magazine, her alternative shots make McCain look...well...kind of evil. Greenberg posted the photos to her website, and remained unapologetic when her editors freaked out.
Were her actions ethical? On the Media. A recent episode of On the Media chats with Greenberg and other photographers about the often murky question of integrity in photojournalism. Greenberg suggests that in some situations, the most ethical way to portray her subjects may not always be the most flattering. Photographer Platon, who captured Ann Coulter on the cover of Time looking, in interviewer Bob Garfield’s estimation, "like a blond praying mantis," agrees. For him, a photographer’s duty isn’t to represent subjects as they’d prefer, but to interpret them, to “pull people out of their reality and into our reality.” Greenberg further justifies unflattering photos (perhaps less convincingly) with the contention that editors sometimes demand them, even asking photographers to deliberately mislead their subjects.
You can take a look at the photos in question, along with some other great (and potentially questionable) shots in a slideshow accompanying the episode transcript.
Assignment: Create an outline that explores the sides of whether the photographer's actions were ethical based upon the article here, your interpretation of the photos, and the interview from On the Media. This outline should then be turned into a five paragraph essay -- due on Tuesday.