Blog Post 19

Before I started Paper 4, I was pretty nervous about the required length. I had never written a paper that had be 8 pages long and I also had never written a paper that had to have around 6 sources. I thought it was going to be very hard to accomplish but after I found a topic that I am passionate about, the ideas came very easily. I didn't think I would enjoy this assignment at all and that it would be very difficult, but after I finished my paper about workers right's in other countries, I realized that it wasn't that bad at all and that I actually enjoyed writing it. Looking back on the assignment now, I had fun writing it. I think that as long as you find something that you are passionate about then it makes writing essays fun. You get to research what you're talking about and since you're interested in the topic it actually makes writing very enjoyable.

Blog Post 18

The blog posts that I found the most useful for helping me develop as a writer were the brain storming posts. Those really allowed me to express what I'm trying to say without having to worry about writing in a certain format or in a grammatically correct manner. For example, this blog post I wrote, "I think I'm going to focus this paper on what resources are renewable/nonrenewable and/or how we treat our land by growing certain products. So many different things are wasted when it comes to farming, especially water and energy. What really comes to mind is something Wendell Berry says, "The way Americans proclaim and pride ourselves on about how much we love our land does not match with the way we actually use our land and our farming resources". This quote is so unbelievably true. Americans as a whole pride ourselves on our love for our land yet we treat it like it means nothing. We throw away resources like there's no tomorrow when in reality there could someday be a "no tomorrow" with the way we're going about farming now. Another thing that is ruining our land from farming is the run-off of fertilizers and is destroying water and creating "dead-zones". In general, the way we are farming is not very sustainable and is destroying the world faster and faster each day. But is there really any way we can go back to the source and start all over? How would we be able to provide for everyone if we tried to do this? How can we get our land to actually be something we are proud of?" (Brainstroming Paper 3). That post really allowed me to sort out exactly what I want to talk about in my paper and really abled me to sort out how I want to outline my paper and how to go about writing. Other posts that really helped me develop as a writer were the reading responses such as, "Where Did Our Clothes Come From?" by Emily Fontaine is a blog post from Emily's fashion blog called Le Quaintrelle which is on BlogSpot.com. Emily talks about how as consumers we need to know where our clothes are coming from and who is making it. She pulled out all of her clothes from her closet and made a pile of clothes that were made in the USA which was only 1/4th of her closest. She then divided that into multiple piles based on being designer clothes, "retail" clothes, "thrifted" clothes, and things bought off Ebay. Doing this really showed Emily that she doesn't always know where your money is going and who it is supporting. A lot of clothes we buy are actually from developing countries who don't have laws against child labor or fair wages. If we continue to buy clothes from them then we're only going to keep supporting how they out-source their jobs for a cheaper price. But if we buy domestically, then we'll support our own country and our own economy" (Blog Post 15). Doing these responses helped me in the same way as the brainstorming. I got to flesh out how I feel about the readings without having to figure out how to say it just yet. By getting out my emotions about the reading after I first read it helped me later on in my writing process when I am trying to figure out what I'm trying to say, because it makes it easier to word it if I know what I'm trying to say.

Class Participation 4/14

As a college student, there any items that I throw away on a daily basis. Such as I use at least a paper plate, plastic silverware, or plastic cups multiple times a day. It's not that I don't have dishes that I can just wash and re-use, it's that I'm too lazy to do use and throwing away paper and plastic is so much easier than having to do dishes. When my trash can gets full, I just take it to the dumpster outside my dorm and never see it again because it's not like I'm going to go to a landfill to see how it's been disposed of. As for invisible waste, I often eat out or on campus but I don't know what was done to make fast food or food in the dining hall. I have no clue what farm or production lines it came from or if the food even came from a farm. The idea of visible waste and invisible waste affects our daily lives because maybe if we had to dispose of our trash ourselves then we would be more careful and aware with how much we're using and throwing away.

Intro, Thesis, Outline

Thesis: If we continue to buy clothes from them then we're only going to keep supporting how they out-source their jobs for a cheaper price. But if we buy domestically, then we'll support our own country and our own economy.

Intro: One problem that has taken over our economy is that fact that a lot of clothes we buy are actually from developing countries who don't have laws against child labor or fair wages. If we continue to buy clothes from them then we're only going to keep supporting how they out-source their jobs for a cheaper price. But if we buy domestically, then we'll support our own country and our own economy. Not only is buying products from these countries hurting the developing countries but it is also hurting the US because we are importing more than we are exporting and it is putting us in a tremendous debt.

 

Outline:

Paragraph A: Intro

Paragraph B: Analyzing How Much We Import vs. Export 
 - Article [a]
 - Article [b]

      Paragraph C: Analyzing Our Trade Deficit
      - Article [a]
      - Article [b]

      Paragraph D: Globalization and Industrialization of Developing Countries
      - Article [a]
      - Article [b]

Paragraph E: Analyzing Exploitation of these Countries

      - Article [a] 

- Article [b]




Paragraph F: Analyzing Workers and Company Rights
- Article [a]


- Article [b]




Paragraph G: How Can We Fix This
- Article [a]


-Article [b]

Paragraph H: Conclusion

Class Participation 4/9

http://www.globalissues.org/article/57/corporations-and-workers-rights

Part 1:
1) Rhetorical Devices, Techniques, Fallacies:

Shah uses rhetorical fallacies by not backing up her evidence. She states, "Nike, as mentioned above, as well as many other retail companies, use cheap labor in South East Asia, where they can get away from the tighter enforcement and regulations of USA and Europe." Yet she doesn't quote where she got her resources from. How can we know this is true?

2) Summarize the argument:
This article argues how many big companies such as Nike and Coca-Cola have abused companies and worker’s rights. Shah not only explains what the problem is but also describes how we can move on from this and what the exact problems are of paying fair wages.

Part 2:
Shah lists many examples of scenarios of situations all around the world where companies abuse their worker's rights. She even lists them in bullets and says "Take the following as examples (by no means exhaustive!)". What does that even mean? Why would she give such detailed descriptions of these workers that appeal to our emotions if in reality we shouldn't consider them because she doesn't even source them? How can we know these stories are real and not just appealing to our emotions to take her side of the argument? However, Shah does give links to where she gets her statistics from but how do we know we can trust these links as well? If makes me wonder if she if using trustworthy facts or if she is just using surprising facts to get to out emotions. Such as, "In April 2002, as Alternet.org reports, Levi Strauss & Company, “a brand practically synonymous with the U.S.A., decided to shutter virtually all domestic production and shift its manufacturing overseas.” Earlier, in 1992, the Washington Post had exposed Levi’s exploitation of Chinese prison labor to make jeans and throughout the 90s, various apparel companies had been accused of various forms of exploitation and sweatshop labor in poorer countries. Levis tried to introduce a code of standards, but it seems that Levis too has been feeling the competition pressure and in order to maximize profits and reduce costs, now also feels compelled to join the herd, so to speak, and go for cheaper labor costs."

Blog Post 16: Reading Response

In my opinion, Siegle brings up a very good perspective about the fashion industry that I never thought of. Woman, like myself, purchase cheap clothing to do ourselves a favor by obviously by saving money, however it is supporting the companies that underpay their workers and abuse their rights. I agree with Siegle's argument completely, but as a woman, I don't know how it would go over to suggest for woman to start paying for more expensive items when it'll effect us tremendously, especially people like me: a broke college student. It is a great idea but I don't know how you can get people to buy more domestic items when most people's main goal nowadays is to save money as much money as possible.

Blog Post 15: Reading Summary

"Where Did Our Clothes Come From?" by Emily Fontaine is a blog post from Emily's fashion blog called Le Quaintrelle which is on BlogSpot.com. Emily talks about how as consumers we need to know where our clothes are coming from and who is making it. She pulled out all of her clothes from her closet and made a pile of clothes that were made in the USA which was only 1/4th of her closest. She then divided that into multiple piles based on being designer clothes, "retail" clothes, "thrifted" clothes, and things bought off Ebay. Doing this really showed Emily that she doesn't always know where your money is going and who it is supporting. A lot of clothes we buy are actually from developing countries who don't have laws against child labor or fair wages. If we continue to buy clothes from them then we're only going to keep supporting how they out-source their jobs for a cheaper price. But if we buy domestically, then we'll support our own country and our own economy.