E-Portfolio Introduction

Hello, everyone! My name is Kassia Janesch, and I am currently an undergraduate at Pennsylvania State University. Throughout high school, I had honestly no idea where to go with my life. And to be honest, I still am unsure. I am young; I have yet to truly experience life. However, coming to Penn State, I have been able to more fully grow into who I am as a person, and I anticipate this will continue over my years here. Currently, it is my plan to major in English and minor in Sociology or possibly Human Resources. Literature is a passion of mine, and has been since I can remember. I grew up in a house occupied by stacks on stacks of books – classical novels, my father’s old books from when he went to Penn State, collections of poems, great plays… Almost every genre you can imagine. Considering my upbringing, with two bookworm parents, it seemed almost inevitable that I would inherit a love of writing. Over this past year, I have been able to further strengthen my comprehension and writing skills thanks to the great variety of literature, English, and rhetoric classes I have been lucky enough to take. In addition to learning more than I could have hoped for, and thoroughly enjoying my education, I have been able to clarify and truly realize my love of literature and language. This past year, I realized the importance of pursuing what I am passionate about. Though I am not sure what I will do after college, in regards to further schooling or employment, I do know that it will, in some way, stem from my love and study of the English language.



To visit my E-portfolio click: Kassia Janesch E-Portfolio

"The Power of Words"

newscounselor.blogspot.com

As I sit in front of my computer every week, trying to find a topic for my blog post, I most often realize that most of my topics come from my own real life experience. I blog about things that come up in conversations with friends, things I observe, or things I read about in the paper or online. But this week, I’ve been so busy with papers and exams that my life has mainly consisted of studying, writing, and sleeping. I feel like I’ve barely been out in the world, I’ve been so cooped up with work. So I was somewhat at a loss of what to blog about this week, as I wasn’t able to really keep up with current events. 

So I thought about rhetoric, in general. And I realized that the most pervasive aspect of effective rhetoric was speech. The very words one uses are the foundation of most persuasion and influence. From word choice stems ethos, pathos, and logos. Without language, rhetoric would be very different from what we think of it today. We would have to rely upon gestures or facial expressions. But thankfully, we do have the ability to communicate through spoken and written word. Poets and authors have recognized this for years; their jobs are based upon successfully finding the right combination of words that touches us and appeals to us the most. Language can be crude, or language can be beautiful. We ignore what does not catch our attention, but we will give endless amounts of attention to what successfully draws us in. While pondering this, I remembered a video I saw online once presenting how effective or ineffective language can be purely based upon what words are used. This video shows how important word choice can be to rhetoric, in general. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU

The Effort We Put into Things...

Megan Fox
hollywood.com

Channing Tatum
fanpop.com

            I’m all about American pop culture, though it does occasionally annoy me to no end. It helps define who we are as a generation, even if we sometimes strongly dislike the movies or music that stems from it. But we can’t deny that celebrities and the media that fuels their fame holds a kind of spell over us. We want to date Megan Fox or Channing Tatum, we would spend hundreds of dollars to see our favorite musician in concert for one night, and we stand in line for hours for an autograph or a glance by movie stars. It’s nothing to be ashamed of – we are certainly entitled to admire people’s talents (and drool over their good looks…). However, we also have to remember that we give celebrities their fame, their influence. They wouldn’t be as affluent or significant as they are if we didn’t buy into the aspects of culture they produce. And while there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a catchy song or renting a movie by your favorite artist or actor, I will never (and I really mean never) understand how people revolve a huge portion of their lives around celebrities, to the point of worship. Ok, if someone has invented a new technology, cured a disease, donated time and money to a worthwhile cause, or survived a tough situation to go on and help others through the same, I can see how they could be a respectable idol. But to call someone your hero because they have a catchy song, or because they have stunning good looks – how is that worthy of a role model? 

defendingcontending.com
Google Images

I get it; they are rhetorically strong. Celebrities can easily influence us to download music, tune into a TV show night after night, or buy a product. They mainly use their rhetoric to spread their fame and increase their wealth. Yeah, I appreciate the aspects of culture they provide for us, but it seems to me as if all that influence is going to waste. The rich and famous constantly put tons of effort into increasing their fan base or fattening their bank accounts. Maybe if celebrities turned their attention from increasing their time in the spotlight to a worthy cause the world would be a better place. I know celebrities do occasionally advocate for charities already – but I also know that they don’t wield their rhetorical power for good as much as they could. I can admit, with no shame, that I follow a ton of celebrities on Twitter. And so I constantly see tweets about how they love their fans, their fans that love them so much. Maybe those tweets could be used for awareness of an important social issue instead. Not everyday, but occasionally. 

Angelina Jolie
newstrick.com

If people put half as much effort into something that could help others as they do keeping up with celebrity gossip or the newest song or movie, the world would be a far better place. Not only are celebrities not doing all they could, but we, as society, aren’t doing what we can. We give celebrities their fame, as a group. We can be powerful and make changes. But we don’t, not consistently. We come together in crises, and that’s wonderful! Imagine what we could do if instead of telling all of our friends to download the newest album, we told people about a great charity, or set aside a few cents a day for those in need. Overall, people individually and the country as a whole would be better off if we could remove just a fraction of our focus from ourselves or our celebrity idols and put it to use on something that could positively impact those less fortunate than ourselves. 

Social Movements

Poster for PSU's 2008 Pride Week Rally
clubs.psu.edu

            As I was walking back from class (actually, from LA101H) the other day I noticed an LGBTA march for equality along Pollock Road. They were ahead of me, but I could still distinctly hear their shouts of “We Are… Penn State! We Are… Not Straight!” I love seeing people standing up for their rights. I love that this is America, and that we are all entitled to be exactly who we are without prosecution. What I don’t love, though, is that in this country founded upon freedom, there is still prejudice, hate, and ignorance. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but no one should be allowed to unfairly judge or harm someone who is different from them. If you don’t believe in something, then don’t do it. Don’t try to force others into your beliefs.

Old Main!
studentaffairs.psu.edu

This thought was brought to the forefront of my mind when I noticed that police flanked the LGBTA. I was reassured, I guess, that they had protection, but I was bothered that they needed it in the first place. In so many social movements for great causes in America’s history, violence has been an issue. Those standing up for what they believe in, regardless of the cause, deserve respect and the ability to support their beliefs safely. America was founded upon the desire for freedom, and that struggle extended through the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Rights Movement, and now the LGBTA Rights Movement – struggles that in some sense all still exist and are being represented, and, unfortunately, also dissented.

Lady Gaga for equality
fanpop.com

I strongly believe in and support the move towards complete equality. I am proud to think of myself as an Ally, one who supports and those coming out, one who supports the small steps towards equality. When I see peaceful demonstrations or marches I am moved; I am strongly inclined to become more involved, or involved at all. Organized awareness activities by groups such as the LGBTA have the potential to make the world a more accepting, better place. But those who cannot accept individuals who are different from what they know, and can’t acknowledge that people should be able to live in their own preferred way, severely hinder the rhetoric these groups hold. By repeatedly shooting down efforts through hate or violence, discouragement and fear can be instilled in those involved. It can halt progress in its path, and that not only hurts those involved in the movement, but the country as a whole. 

UPUA Election Day

pennstateupua.com

Wednesday, March 28, 2012 probably won’t stand out in my memory a year from now. Actually, it’ll probably fade into relative obscurity in two weeks. But today, however, as I’m writing this, I am obviously able to pick out and distinctly remember today’s details. I overslept; I had a bagel and a strawberry smoothie for lunch; I presented and watched social issue movies in LA101H. I was also constantly stopped on campus by campaigners and reminded to vote today in the UPUA (or University Park Undergraduate Associate) elections.

pennstateupua.com

Wait, what? That’s a thing? And elections were today? Okay, it’s entirely my fault that I don’t know more about our university’s student-run government. I mean, I think I know just about as much as every other freshman. And by that I mean I’ve heard TJ Bard (the current president of UPUA) speak and knew of its existence. Irresponsible, I know. This kind of bothers me. I want to do my civic duty. I want to be able to help ensure that the people responsible for representing the entirety of undergraduates have good ideas and ways of accomplishing those ideas. I wanted to vote, as I told campaigners in passing as I was rushing to my classes.

But one thing stood in my way. I knew nothing about the candidates. I couldn’t make an informed decision about who to vote for. And I definitely didn’t have the time to run around to everyone stationed on campus to hear his or her spiel on their intended actions should they be elected.

flickr.com

As much as I wanted to stop and chat with candidates, I couldn’t. I wished that I had heard about this before election day. As I said before, part of it is my fault as I wasn’t as conscientious as I could have been. But those running for office should understand that, and act accordingly by campaigning and getting their ideas heard ahead of time in order to build a voter base. You wouldn’t run for president and simply expect people to know who you are or what you stand for. I know it must be hard on such a large campus to reach everyone. I know it’s a lot to handle on top of classes, but rhetorically speaking, I wasn’t persuaded by any candidates. Not in such a short amount of time. In order for rhetoric to work, you have to have the public’s attention in the first place. And I definitely knew nothing about the UPUA elections until this morning. As much as that plate of free cookies appealed to me when I was rushing in between classes with no time for a snack, it wasn’t enough to get me to vote randomly and somewhat irresponsibly for those I knew nothing about, socially or politically. In order for campaigns and their rhetoric to be truly effective, time must be allotted to allow for the spreading of one’s message or ideas. 

Advertisements' Influence on Art

Google Images

hurleylawfirm.com

Google Images

I live in West Halls on the University Park campus, so I often walk along Fraser Street. The other day when I was walking back to my room, I noticed some graffiti on one of the pedestrian crossing signs. A pair of wings had been added (after all, "Red Bull gives you wings."), as well as a little tiny Red Bull can in the person’s hand. Funny? Yeah. But creative? Not so much (okay, well, maybe in the sense that in was integrated into the sign). Graffiti can be used as a way of expression – it can be an art form. And the whole point of art is to express your emotions for your own benefit or to share your feelings with the world.

moma.com

            So doing graffiti without the goal of self-expression leaves you with what? Political or social commentary? Or perhaps we just live in a society where consumerism is so prevalent that it has infiltrated our forms of artistic mediums? For example, Andy Warhol’s silkscreen of Campbell soup cans and Coca-Cola bottles are a prime example of an extremely famous print with a product in them. Is the materialistic, capitalistic society going to completely take the individuality and creativity from art? We live in a society where we see thousands of advertisements everyday and are constantly pressed to buy, buy, buy. Products are even endorsed in television shows and movies. Films used to be considered works of art (and still sometimes are), and these too are now infiltrated by product placement. We all can recognize the rhetorical power of advertisements in that sense, but we never take into account this persuasive power can have on modern art.

 Is this the fate for art? Influence by products? I hope that creativity will always been able to overcome capitalistic ventures. Or perhaps we will see a new form of art emerge in advertisements and commercials. It is not uncommon for graphic designers and artists to work for large companies to produce eye-catching ads. In any case, advertisements exercise rhetorical power on far more than we initially realizing, influencing even forms of art.