1. Is the introduction engaging to the audience?
2. Are all my reasons valid?
3. Is there enough evidence to support my reasons?
4. Is the conclusion convincing and does it do a good job at wrapping up the argument?
5. Are all the sources cited properly? (In-text citations as well as Works Cited)
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
First Page of Core 4
A summer job at your local amusement park sounds like a fun way to spend your teenage summers. That was not the story however, for several African American teenagers at Six Flags American in Largo Maryland. They were enjoying their jobs for a long period of time until suddenly one day, they were fired. Their manager told them that their hairstyles were inappropriate for the theme park. The general manager, Mr. Terry Prather, recently gave the workers an appearance guideline handbook. The book states that long braids are not an acceptable hairstyle for employees and that Six Flags required a more all-American look (Gordon).
With all the restrictions placed on employees concerning their images, many people cannot even be considered for a position in the theme parks. If the companies were to change these policies, the parks could have more candidates for positions. A person who is an excellent worker yet has a visible tattoo or dyed hair is a much better choice than a candidate who lacks passion and work ethic yet fits the image guidelines flawlessly. Theme parks need to hire thousands of people each year. They could possibly be hiring mediocre workers. If they let more people be considered for positions, the companies would have more options and varieties of employees.
Once the theme parks hired all these new types of employees, there would be so many different types of people to give the companies new and innovative ideas. When people who are more confident with their self-expressionism begin to work at theme parks, the companies are sure to boost in creativity. The theme park’s Research and Development departments are constantly thinking of new rides, attractions, parades, restaurants, even signs and posters. By hiring the stereotypically creative people, new suggestions for these mentioned theme park paraphernalia would be proposed.
With all the restrictions placed on employees concerning their images, many people cannot even be considered for a position in the theme parks. If the companies were to change these policies, the parks could have more candidates for positions. A person who is an excellent worker yet has a visible tattoo or dyed hair is a much better choice than a candidate who lacks passion and work ethic yet fits the image guidelines flawlessly. Theme parks need to hire thousands of people each year. They could possibly be hiring mediocre workers. If they let more people be considered for positions, the companies would have more options and varieties of employees.
Once the theme parks hired all these new types of employees, there would be so many different types of people to give the companies new and innovative ideas. When people who are more confident with their self-expressionism begin to work at theme parks, the companies are sure to boost in creativity. The theme park’s Research and Development departments are constantly thinking of new rides, attractions, parades, restaurants, even signs and posters. By hiring the stereotypically creative people, new suggestions for these mentioned theme park paraphernalia would be proposed.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Prompt 10!
Film makers are very particular in the first ten minutes of shooting. I watched the first few minutes of an episode of Gossip Girl, on the CW and observed some things that I would not have noticed before. The first thing Gossip Girl does is show the audience clips from the last few episodes for forty seconds to make a montage of flowing scenes to keep you up to date on what is happening in the show. This captures my attention because I start to remember exactly what happened previously and the story now comes together again. Afterwards, they play the opening sequence for the next ten seconds; this basically just shows the title of the show. The next nine plus minutes is the actual show. The show is left on a major cliff hanger before the commercial break. The narrator does not reveal what will come next and leave the audience wanting more and anticipating what is next.
One song that I find to persistently in my head after I hear it is Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’. The song opens with Gaga singing a portion of the chorus. It is then followed by the hook of “Ra-ra ah-ah-ah, roma ro-ma-ma, gaga oh-la-la...” that most everyone knows. After that, drum beats and keyboard is added. Then, Gaga sings the infamous chorus. Listeners are so intrigued by the song that they stay and listen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrtr4_6acUk
There are a few different choices on how to begin an essay. There is anecdotal, subject, critical, significance, historical, and argumentative. I could begin my Core 4 with a subject opening, telling the story of someone who has gone through the struggles of theme park appearance guidelines, much like my illustration of the problem. I could open with a critical opening and explain my thesis statement. One way I would not want to open my essay is anecdotal. The point of our topic selections was to choose what we wanted to do in the future so writing about our experiences in the field now would be unconstructive.
One song that I find to persistently in my head after I hear it is Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’. The song opens with Gaga singing a portion of the chorus. It is then followed by the hook of “Ra-ra ah-ah-ah, roma ro-ma-ma, gaga oh-la-la...” that most everyone knows. After that, drum beats and keyboard is added. Then, Gaga sings the infamous chorus. Listeners are so intrigued by the song that they stay and listen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrtr4_6acUk
There are a few different choices on how to begin an essay. There is anecdotal, subject, critical, significance, historical, and argumentative. I could begin my Core 4 with a subject opening, telling the story of someone who has gone through the struggles of theme park appearance guidelines, much like my illustration of the problem. I could open with a critical opening and explain my thesis statement. One way I would not want to open my essay is anecdotal. The point of our topic selections was to choose what we wanted to do in the future so writing about our experiences in the field now would be unconstructive.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Prompt 9
Thesis Statement:
Some major theme parks do not allow employees to promote individualism therefore, the human resources department needs to fix their appearance guidelines in order to hire people with many different looks and styles.
Reasonings:
1.By having employees who have their own individual styles, the employees would feel more at ease and accepted at their job. Not all employees would look the same and the workers would not have to worry about their hair falling out of place or their tattoos showing. More concern could be put on the actual job at hand. (ethos)
2.Guests could relate better to the employees. If a guest had a certain look, say a Mohawk and multiple piercings, they would probably feel more at ease approaching an employee like themselves. (pathos)
3.Theme parks could hire more, and possibly better, employees. There are many people with strong styles who want to work for a theme park that go into the interview feeling confident; these people are then denied the job. If these candidates were fantastic applicants, the company just turned down many extraordinary future workers. In fact, some of these people could have been better employees than current theme park employees. (logos)
4.Theme parks would have a variety of different employees working in one place. With all these different types of people, new and innovative ideas are sure to come out. Thus, helping and furthering the company. (ethos)
5.The companies would not have to spend the money trying to get all employees to have a uniform look. It takes a lot of money to print the handbook guidelines for thousands of employees worldwide. (logos)
Some major theme parks do not allow employees to promote individualism therefore, the human resources department needs to fix their appearance guidelines in order to hire people with many different looks and styles.
Reasonings:
1.By having employees who have their own individual styles, the employees would feel more at ease and accepted at their job. Not all employees would look the same and the workers would not have to worry about their hair falling out of place or their tattoos showing. More concern could be put on the actual job at hand. (ethos)
2.Guests could relate better to the employees. If a guest had a certain look, say a Mohawk and multiple piercings, they would probably feel more at ease approaching an employee like themselves. (pathos)
3.Theme parks could hire more, and possibly better, employees. There are many people with strong styles who want to work for a theme park that go into the interview feeling confident; these people are then denied the job. If these candidates were fantastic applicants, the company just turned down many extraordinary future workers. In fact, some of these people could have been better employees than current theme park employees. (logos)
4.Theme parks would have a variety of different employees working in one place. With all these different types of people, new and innovative ideas are sure to come out. Thus, helping and furthering the company. (ethos)
5.The companies would not have to spend the money trying to get all employees to have a uniform look. It takes a lot of money to print the handbook guidelines for thousands of employees worldwide. (logos)
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Prompt 8
Illustration of the Problem:
How would you like to be fired from your job because of your hair style, yet you were never told the restrictions? That is exactly what happened to several African American employees at Six Flags America in Largo, Maryland. Their managers approached them one day and told them that their hairstyles were inappropriate. The employees suggested that the employee handbook is biased against African Americans and that the managers said they wanted an ‘all-American’ look. The general manager, Terry Prather, claimed that yes the guidelines were not strictly enforced but Six Flags tell their employees that the company has been in business for a long time and they want standards. Mr. Prather claims the problem was that the park had a management switch so the rules did not transfer over to the new employees, such as the ones in this case. Mr. Prather also stated that he has not spoke to his management team yet about the guidelines and how they should be enforced, but he plans to. Without proper instructions, the employees cannot possibly know the ‘standards’. With these standards in place, the park employees are not allowed self-expression.
How would you like to be fired from your job because of your hair style, yet you were never told the restrictions? That is exactly what happened to several African American employees at Six Flags America in Largo, Maryland. Their managers approached them one day and told them that their hairstyles were inappropriate. The employees suggested that the employee handbook is biased against African Americans and that the managers said they wanted an ‘all-American’ look. The general manager, Terry Prather, claimed that yes the guidelines were not strictly enforced but Six Flags tell their employees that the company has been in business for a long time and they want standards. Mr. Prather claims the problem was that the park had a management switch so the rules did not transfer over to the new employees, such as the ones in this case. Mr. Prather also stated that he has not spoke to his management team yet about the guidelines and how they should be enforced, but he plans to. Without proper instructions, the employees cannot possibly know the ‘standards’. With these standards in place, the park employees are not allowed self-expression.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Core 3 Reflection
Finding sources for Core 3 was not as challenging as it seemed to be. Once I dove into my research, I found it easier to stumble upon sources that helped me tremendously. However, I did struggle with the thesis statement. I found it difficult to come up with a solution since the problem is not easily solved. The annotations were much easier than I expected them to be. Once I got the gist of it, they went by smoothly. Since all of my sources are useful to me in different ways, it was easy to describe their helpfulness to my essay. The resource hub was difficult at first since I did not understand the difference between ‘Definition of the Controversy’ and ‘Illustration of the Problem’. Thankfully, there were several examples on the blog site to help with my own resource hub. Overall, Core 3 was not as challenging as I expected it to be.
Resource Hub
Thesis Statement:
Some major theme parks do not allow employees to promote individualism therefore, the human resources department needs to fix their appearance guidelines in order to hire people with many different looks and styles.
Definition of the Controversy:
Everyday numerous people apply for jobs in the theme park industry. Many of these people are turned down simply because of their looks. Most major theme parks, such as Disney, Universal, and Six Flags, do not hire employees who have visible tattoos, multiple piercings, brightly dyed hair, or even too much facial hair. This poses a problem for those who are taking part in openly expressing themselves via style. The theme parks have a long list of looks and styles a potential employee cannot sport. By not hiring employees like those described, the theme parks are both limiting the number of future employees and also giving off the impression that the companies do not support self-expression. In order to fix this, the companies’ human resource department needs to revise their policies by allowing employees to show their personalities subtly during work hours. If employees were given just a little bit of leeway concerning appearances, the parks could have more, possibly better, workers.
Illustration of the Problem:
How would you like to be fired from your job because of your hair style, yet you were never told the restrictions? That is exactly what happened to several African American employees at Six Flags America in Largo, Maryland. Their managers approached them one day and told them that their hairstyles were inappropriate. The employees suggested that the employee handbook is biased against African Americans and that the managers said they wanted an ‘all-American’ look. The general manager, Terry Prather, claimed that yes the guidelines were not strictly enforced but Six Flags tell their employees that the company has been in business for a long time and they want standards. Mr. Prather claims the problem was that the park had a management switch so the rules did not transfer over to the new employees, such as the ones in this case. Mr. Prather also stated that he has not spoke to his management team yet about the guidelines and how they should be enforced, but he plans to. Without proper instructions, the employees cannot possibly know the ‘standards’. With these standards in place, the park employees are not allowed self-expression.
Sources:
Background Information:
http://afterthemouse.com/node/2521
https://www.wdwcollegeprogram.com/sap/its/mimes/zh_wdwcp/disneylook/disneylook.html
http://www.ushjobs.com/image.php
Support/Evidence:
Griffin, Emma. Email Interview. 27 Feb. 2010.
Koenig, David. Mouse Tales. Irvine: Bonaventure , 1994. Print.
Koenig, David. Realityland. Irvine: Bonaventure, 2007. Print.
http://www.icmrindia.org/CaseStudies/catalogue/Human%20Resource%20and%20Organization%20Behavior/Personal%20Appearances-The%20Changing%20HR%20Norms.htm
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&dat=20030713&id=kvMPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JY4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4134,6004254
Opposing Viewpoints:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5503209
Some major theme parks do not allow employees to promote individualism therefore, the human resources department needs to fix their appearance guidelines in order to hire people with many different looks and styles.
Definition of the Controversy:
Everyday numerous people apply for jobs in the theme park industry. Many of these people are turned down simply because of their looks. Most major theme parks, such as Disney, Universal, and Six Flags, do not hire employees who have visible tattoos, multiple piercings, brightly dyed hair, or even too much facial hair. This poses a problem for those who are taking part in openly expressing themselves via style. The theme parks have a long list of looks and styles a potential employee cannot sport. By not hiring employees like those described, the theme parks are both limiting the number of future employees and also giving off the impression that the companies do not support self-expression. In order to fix this, the companies’ human resource department needs to revise their policies by allowing employees to show their personalities subtly during work hours. If employees were given just a little bit of leeway concerning appearances, the parks could have more, possibly better, workers.
Illustration of the Problem:
How would you like to be fired from your job because of your hair style, yet you were never told the restrictions? That is exactly what happened to several African American employees at Six Flags America in Largo, Maryland. Their managers approached them one day and told them that their hairstyles were inappropriate. The employees suggested that the employee handbook is biased against African Americans and that the managers said they wanted an ‘all-American’ look. The general manager, Terry Prather, claimed that yes the guidelines were not strictly enforced but Six Flags tell their employees that the company has been in business for a long time and they want standards. Mr. Prather claims the problem was that the park had a management switch so the rules did not transfer over to the new employees, such as the ones in this case. Mr. Prather also stated that he has not spoke to his management team yet about the guidelines and how they should be enforced, but he plans to. Without proper instructions, the employees cannot possibly know the ‘standards’. With these standards in place, the park employees are not allowed self-expression.
Sources:
Background Information:
http://afterthemouse.com/node/2521
https://www.wdwcollegeprogram.com/sap/its/mimes/zh_wdwcp/disneylook/disneylook.html
http://www.ushjobs.com/image.php
Support/Evidence:
Griffin, Emma. Email Interview. 27 Feb. 2010.
Koenig, David. Mouse Tales. Irvine: Bonaventure , 1994. Print.
Koenig, David. Realityland. Irvine: Bonaventure, 2007. Print.
http://www.icmrindia.org/CaseStudies/catalogue/Human%20Resource%20and%20Organization%20Behavior/Personal%20Appearances-The%20Changing%20HR%20Norms.htm
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&dat=20030713&id=kvMPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JY4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4134,6004254
Opposing Viewpoints:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5503209
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