RA: Online Gold Farming (WoW)

This rhetorical analysis deals with a video on MTV’s website which reports online mining in China. This is where companies (a lot of US) will hire out groups of low paid workers to play online games, harvesting money, which will then be sold to gamers who desire to simply purchase gold on the web (a big game for this is World of Warcraft).
The audience is mostly to views of the MTV website. However, I found other articles that linked to this site meaning that their audience is more expanded than just their own website. Primarily their purpose is to educate the masses on the “supposed” gold farms and the hundreds of thousands of Chinese who work there. The report goes through several different interviews, the most important being an interview with the head of one of the main virtual gold brokers (IGE), a manager of a gold farm and individual workers.
The rhetoric is very persuasive to the audience as it shows footage inside of the farms with tired and poor looking Chinese teenagers. The personal interviews have the greatest impact as the workers state that it’s a decent job but hard as they have to play every single day for long hours and it’s not good on the eyes. There is a really great juxtaposition where they ask the head of IGE if they exploit their workers in China to which he replies, “There is no exploitation.” The scene changes to the manager of one farm who states outright, “There is exploitation.” It makes the audience believe the poor Chinese manager and the personal interviews of low paid farmers against the belief of the rich, money making White President of IGE.
The clip has a lot of information but is done in short, rapid-fire segments which fits perfectly to their audience.

nothing to do with English: Umlots #1

Many mighty and important things have happened in the village of the Umlats (pronounced Umlots). Since their great founding the Umlats have strived for industry and diligent working. The first village raised by noble Umlats searching for a new life was that of Umlata. It was a chilly day when the first folk finally settled in the hazed expanse. The landscape is green, though the soil is dry, rock hard and unforgiving of any settlers. Despite the harsh conditions and the bitter chill, Umlata was destined to be a safe haven for the Umlats.
That however all began to change three generations after the Umlats first settled. It was a sleepy village that welcomed the first Denoir traders, rich merchantmen from far off in the East, far enough away that old Umbler, the town sage, had never heard of such a place. Yet come they did, and with them a whole caravan of goods headed off to some other destination. Umlata appeared to be a quant village, with the people hospitable enough to share the winter with them. The Denoir were warned of the fearsome blizzards and so took refuge for the season on the outskirts of Umlata.
At first the tradesmen stayed to themselves mostly and remained somewhat an enigma to the villagers. Eventually curiosity got the best of the younger Umlats and they trudged through half frozen mud to reach the impressive array of wagons and exotic animals. Never before had the young Umlats seen such a sight! Impressive rugs woven in red silk and furs adorned each wagon. Rich spices soothed the senses filling the mind and mouth with wanton desire! Here was rich gold, ornaments and jewelry shaped like moons with round stones that put the dull sun to shame! Thick and beautiful robes were brought out to show the curious ones the grandeur of the tradesmen. Soon, stories were being told of far away city states where the buildings, tall and built of amber, stretched past the horizon. Palaces built in sun scorched deserts, crystal throne rooms with dances and merriment, lands filled with lakes and green fields dripping with harvest!
The poor parents of the younglings could barely understand what their children were shouting and screaming about when they returned. Finally it was understood that they had been to the Denoir much to the dissatisfaction of the elders who were somewhat suspicious of the outsiders.
This proved some grief as well on the part of the Denoir who were, for the most part, a noble people. Living among the Umlats was especially hard on Denmare a young merchant traveling alone with the company. Denmare was not a greedy man, though in comparison he was living in riotous lavish compared with these folks who didn’t even know what a regular bath was. He had told stories describing the various places he had been to. The children loved it, yet it pained him to see them in such conditions without much opportunity for progress.
Finally Denmare decided to try and help some of the Umlats with some money which he hoped might help some. This is generally opposed by the Caravan Council as the majority thought the Umlats would only ask for more. Yet Denmare decided he had to help in some way and so decided to secret some funding to the Umlats for work he needed to be done. This of course would be a dangerous plot, but Denmare thought himself clever enough to succeed.

Does money corrupt? What happens when we try to help people?

poems

Ode to Rho

When I first heard of thee,
I thought what splendid name!
What shape wilt thou take?
But I found my hope vain.
What great use could you be?
This treasure called rho.
Then I found out you were only a p
What great wo!

Poor sweet rho, still the name calls on.
The majestic, the powerful, the fearsome,
A worthy name to be found,
On some mighty warrior in some distant star,
But yet again you are only a p.



What are we coming to,
In worlds that fit on screens?
It is asleep, dead and gray,
Then alive, brave and bold!
Who is man that enters such a box?
He is whomever he desires
Whomever he wills,
Whomever he shall be.

Yet the life of flair dies with the plug,
Ending in a different life.
Can existence be perpetuated into the screen?
Many have tried and find life better on the web.
There is so much more to see.

But again remember, that when the computer goes out
Our life, our true life, is all that will be.

TA: Make up Introduction specific to audience (with note)

Hey Nicole! For some reason this blog got posted in a different version of my own blog. I'm not sure what's going on with that, but I might be able to find the other blog. I posted it Saturday night for a make up of a previous TA I missed.

Raising children and educating is probably on of the most important things to a parent. While I am not yet a parent (nor married), I have great hopes one day being one. This means that educating my future children and preparing for that is very important to me as I’m sure it is to you. One hears often, including myself, of some of the problems facing the current school system, one where myself like many of you, were educated. Problems such as drugs, early drinking and other vices are fairly apparent. It also seems that there are even more school shootings, with each shooter getting younger. What other option is there to parents to educate their children? While more expensive, private institutions can provide children with a great education in a safe environment. But again, this alternative is beyond the financial scope of many. One option that many are choosing is home schooling but with that come a host of questions that need to be addressed. All the issues regarding home schooling are important, but the one that seems to be brought up most is the effect home schooling has on a child’s social development. Does home schooling actually stagnate important social skills developed in the public system?

RA: Home Schooling and the Question of Socialization

For tonight I read “Home Schooling and the Question of Socialization” by Richard G. Medlin. Very importantly, his audience is a scholarly one, meaning that his specific style is very different from that which might be written for a public one. I personally found the article was very boring, but informative which is perfect for his audience. There are no from mothers who are beaming about their home taught children as I have seen in other papers. This is much research driven, focusing on a lot of different research and pointing out the various problems and conclusions that each researcher makes. This is effective with Medlin’s audience because that is probably the only way to make a good argument—through fact and research. Medline lists out the arguments of those against home schooling and those in favor of it (mostly parents).
His stance isn’t really too obvious, but he does side with those in favor of home schooling giving a variety of reasons why. However, he is not fully committed to this side as he points out the inherit flaws in the manner of collecting such data and how limited the research actually is. The effect of this on his audience is to slightly persuade them of the benefits of home schooling, but no real big push is made. I believe it is his main purpose to be informative rather than persuasive. He does argue well though, that more research is needed before any real sort of conclusion can be reached.

FW: Some more poems

This one goes with some song that goes
du-nuh. pause du-nuh- pause-du,dun,dun,dun,Du-uhn.


Softly, and slowly, and gently rises the morn.
Carefully, and thoughtfully, it brings to pas the dawn.
Glowing, emeralds flowing, the earth begins to wake
Breathing, its fist breath, of the day that’s to partake.

Gently, and softly, it rises from the shadow
Cheery, yes cheery, the gloomy world awakes

Beaming, its steaming, the sun begins to break,
Shining, its brightness upon a sleepy world.



My favorite color
My favorite color is sleep,
It is something painted on black canvas,
A black canvas that hopefully stretches for miles.
The brilliance of light comes from the contrast of color on dark.
Dream globes arise, manifesting worlds yet unseen, lands yet unexplored.
And best of all is the scent of the paint as it dries and refreshes all.

Yes my favorite color is sleep,
Though I don’t paint with it much,
I’ll have to learn to spend more time at it,
Or just get a blowtorch.

TA: Intros with contracts

With somewhere over 700,000 illegal immigrants entering the country every year, this has become an issue which deals with every aspect of society. It is estimated that there are at least 8 to 12 million illegal immigrants currently living within the country, while other think tanks estimate them at over 20 million. Many policies have been mentioned which you are well acquainted with: we can increase our borders, grant amnesty to the illegal immigrants, introduce a huge deportation program, etc. In looking a these policies, one must weigh the costs and the benefits, short term and long term. Deportation is something which often comes up as a means to getting rid of the illegal population, but at what cost is this implemented? If the job is done right and the cost is low the United States should pursue a more aggressive deportation policy. But what really are the costs of deportation on the United States? Would a more aggressive deportation policy be detrimental or would it be something of great benefit?

First they came in small numbers, and then they came in droves. The history of illegal immigration to the United States is a long one with various policies and government plans to curb the influx of illegal aliens. Over the years massive amnesty has been granted, major deportation stints have been utilized, but the fact remains that there are at least 8 to 12 million illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States. Some have argued that massive deportation is the best method to getting rid of the large illegal population. However, what are the costs of implementing such a method, both to the economic and moral fiber of America?