Group Presentation Evaluation

My group members for the visual analysis group presentation were Alana Hurst and Elly Greene.

Alana was a group oriented member in the group. She made sure everyones ideas were heard by asking questions to the group about what we thought we should do. She would give her own opinion on the matter and then ask the group what we thought would be best for our project.

Elly was also group oriented. She made a slide show on her computer and brought it to our first meeting. She didn't say this is our slide show, instead she asked for the groups input on where we as a group should go with the power point and made sure everyones ideas were included in the power point. She also made a great effort to include the group in conversation over the direction of the presentation. Everyone in the group had a say and voted on what to focus each slide on.

I give both Alana and Elly 100% as group members, they were easy to work with and over all great group oriented members

For myself I think I was a little more self oriented. I worked well in the group and I would object if I thought there was a better was of doing something or saying something or agree if they had a better idea than I did. For the most part our group was thinking alike which helped a lot with our group communication, each group member would feed off of the others ideas until we came up with the best one.

I would give my self a 95% because I worked well with my other group members and I voiced my opinion in a positive way.

April Blog Check

I would like to use my group evaluations on the presentations as blog checks.

Podcast Blog

The podcast "Ruining it for the rest of us" was about how different attitudes in a group can affect the groups production. Personally I have had group members that have been "bad apples" and group members that have been very good leaders. The group member that was a "bad apple" had a very negative attitude which made the whole groups attitude towards the project become negative as well. The "bad apple" tended to slack off throughout the whole project. The only input that came from that group member was negative thoughts or things that sidetracked the rest of the group.

The best group member I ever had was a good leader. He was very focused on the project and made sure everyone else was too. He let the group joke around a little and have fun, but made sure we were making progress while having fun. One way he made sure everyone was on task and paying attention to the project was that he would weigh in everyones opinion on the matter. He made sure everyone in the group had a say in what to do with the project. Another thing that made him a good leader is that he didn't take over the project, he made sure everyone had their own part of the project to complete. The most important qualities of the group leader that made him such a good leader was his listening skills and his ability to get along with everyone in the group.

In Class Speech Review: Nelson Mandela

One of the days that we met as a large group we split up in to three groups to talk about different speeches. I went with the group that talked about Nelson Mandela's Release from Prison Speech. One of the most interesting things about this speech is how humble he is in it. Through out the whole speech he talks about how he is a servant to the people, not about how he is going to lead the country but about how he can help the people lead the country. One of the most interesting things about this speech is that he doesn't even begin to talk about himself until well into the speech. All of these things, his humbleness and his will to serve are building his ethos. Another thing he uses to build ethos is by his saluting statements. He spends a long time in his speech saluting those people who deserve credit. By repeating "I salute" to all of the people he is showing that he is there to serve not to be worshiped, for lack of a better word.

Free Writing 2/02/10 Favorite Word

My favorite word is tenacity. It is my favorite word for a few reasons. One reason I like the word tenacity is because I like the way the word sounds. Another reason I like it is because of its definition, but the main reason tenacity is my favorite word is because my high school football coach used to use tenacity all of the time. Before games, in the pre-game speech, he would tell us all about tenacity, that we all needed to play with tenacity every play. He would write two letters on the white board, GT. These two letters stood for God and tenacity. He explained to us that these two words were the keys to victory. Tenacity, to me, means always playing your hardest every play, always doing the best you can, never backing down, and doing things with a lot of intensity.

Ever since my freshman year in high school, tenacity has been etched into my brain as not only my favorite word but as a word to live by.

Othello Blog

Iago’s first lines in the play tell a lot about him. It establishes an ethos of loyalty because he says he won’t tell anyone about Desnmona or act upon his feelings about the matter because they could hurt his friend.

Iago’s last lines in the play make him out to be a snake. Instead of trying to help his friend it seems as though he was spinning some kind of false web to get what he wanted.

Iago is the best at speaking the same language because in the play he does it several times. One of the times that sticks out the most is when he is talking to Othello and picks up on certain words that Othello is using and starts using them too to get Othello riled up and to get what he wants.