Artist Statement

This multigenre essay examines the relationship between student activism and student apathy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison through current campus events, personal and professional surveys of student activity, and examples of student life. It is an essay documentary exploring the approach of centralized student action groups, and their counterpart, widespread student apathy. This essay challenges the public awareness approach that cause-oriented organizations take, and it investigates the intentional blind eye that students turn toward social and political expressions.

UW-Madison students are daily bombarded by the messages of committees, organizations, and affiliations exercising their right to free speech, but at what point do these authentic causes lose urgency due to students’ growing apathy toward all of the noise of a liberal arts campus? The public hyperactivism creates some fervor, some followers, and some awareness, but there is another large group of students who become immune to the voices and apathetic toward the causes. This is problematic because the more we are inundated with urgent, dramatic problems, the more we become desensitized to legitimate issues in our country and cease to be a progressive community.

There is a plethora of evidence supporting the existence of activism on campus; there is a collaborative for almost any assembly, minority, or problem in America—and many supporting global issues. The problem is not in opportunity or accessibility of social or political need either: the fruitlessness of activists on campus derives from the multitude of messages, all presented in nearly the same fashion, that hit young adults like advertising campaigns. A few go out and buy into the product, and the rest remain skeptical and unaffected. When social problems are emphasized as products, with corporate backing and banners and finances, it is unsurprising that students tighten the purse strings and feel unsympathetic.

This essay is a response to the springtime explosion of booths, banners, demonstrations, and giveaways that pop up after winter has boxed many them from library mall. Fall and spring are the prime times to catch students and offer them free food, drinks, tote bags, stickers, and swag in return for a couple of bucks, a signature, or some ‘raised awareness.’ Students find themselves forced into this rhetorical situation daily, often feeling the pressure and guilt of organizations trying to enlighten them through their right to free speech.

I chose an assembly of protest photos and a personal narrative/handouts to elucidate the social dilemma that students are physically faced with day to day. True examples more succinctly communicate how ubiquitous these messages and .org groups are and put the reader in an empathetic frame of mind. They also explore both sides of the rhetoric war—those students fervently fighting for causes and those passively passing them up, either impervious to the various exigencies or annoyed by their persistent nature. These true, very recent examples show, rather than tell, how widespread and varying activism is. Simultaneously, they compare how similar each organization’s approach to communication and fundraising is. In fact, at first glance most seem almost identical except for the different colors of paper used to catch the eye.

The two news articles, one local and one national, are logical appeals to the ethics of activism, and each demonstrates the irony of campus activists. First, in the local article about the Holocaust controversy in The Badger Herald (“The University of Wisconsin’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969”), over a hundred students exercise their right of free speech—by publicly protesting—in order to limit the free speech of someone else—another group’s freedom of the press. It is ironic that one particular attitude is demonstrating to stop another attitude’s demonstrations. It is a case where free speech is exercised in order to stop free speech. The second article, which examines a U.C.L.A. study of student apathy in the United States, argues that students are no more apathetic today than in the Sixties. However, it ironically ends by conceding that student activism is spread thin, non-collaborative, and generally too small to make quantitatively significant changes. Though its purpose is to persuade readers that students do, actively want to make the world a better place, it concludes by recognizing that individual, issue-specific groups are achieving little real progress.

The tragic irony of activism is that, while it succeeds in making copies and putting up tables year after year, together all of these different movements contribute to general campus apathy toward social and political issues. Students walk past the conglomeration of signs and flyers without stopping to read even one. If they happen to catch a message on a sidewalk they do not pause to remember it or write it down. Maybe they will listen if they are given something free, and in return they give their attention and awareness, for free. But how effective is this exchange at solving problems, changing lives, or teaching students about problems in the world? I cannot help but suspect all this fundraising is spent to perpetuate fundraising. I cannot help but sympathize with students who feel that their dollar is just another tiny part of a budget devoted to poster printing and an exaggerated belief in the power of awareness. If we were aware, they suppose we would do something. But maybe we are aware, and just don’t care to contribute.

Reflection on the Multi-Genre Project

This multi-genre presentation is an excellent study in how different genres can create different effects on the reader. Using multiples genres allows the creator to create multiple effects for the reader, enhancing the overall argument. This means that we could use emotional appeals, with genres like the news articles and political ad, alongside pieces like the initial essay, which are meant to inform the reader in a logical and straight forward manner.
Several of the genres in our project help to give the feeling of timeliness. The news articles and political ads all focus on the recent 2008 Presidential Campaign, highlighting the issues that our project addresses in light of these current events. This shows how the issues are relevant to readers today, not just as some vague abstract idea about politics. I think that this is an important point; it brings the argument home for the reader, and shows them how the argument is relevant to them personally.
The emotional appeal in our paper comes largely from the satire, political cartoon, and political ad. The satire uses humor to open the audience up to the ideas presented in the piece. Humor serves to cause the reader to let down their guard, and makes them more receptive to the new ideas. The political cartoon uses humor for a similar effect, in this case reinforcing the arguments that have already been given. It is also used to break up the more lengthy genres, and give the reader a reprieve from simply reading text. The political ad appeals to the readers emotions by showing the sort of subtle hints that are used in real political ads. It is meant to give an example of just how politicians use the religious tendencies within the voters to manipulate their opinions.
The more logical appeals are realized primarily in the main essay and the op-en piece. The main essay sets up the argument, giving scientific evidence and research supporting the fact that religion is integral to our decision making. This makes the reader think about the topic logically. The op-ed piece does a very similar thing with respect to the topic of political campaigns; it presents a more logical argument about the necessity of being Christian to being elected president. This works well in tandem with the political ad; the op-ed piece gets the reader thinking about it logically, and then the political ad gets their emotional side involved in the process. This duality is very effective in pulling in the reader and getting their whole thought process involved in the argument.

Multi Genre Reflection

Our project really aims to allow people to think for themselves. We are approaching an argument that will be praised on some sides and attacked on the other, whereas, some people may just be indifferent. Our goal is to make sure that people are thinking, not just for themselves, but about themselves. We have found that religion is an overarching area that people use to make so many decisions in there life. This is a good thing, however we need to make sure that people are not just using religion to make those decisions. This should go for all experiences and beliefs in life as well. People should use their beliefs and experiences as a whole to make decisions. If religion is one of those things, it should be included, but it should not be the sole deciding factor.

It is my hope that our project will make people think about everything as a whole, as opposed to just using one aspect of their life. All of our different genres attempt to do this. We use emotional connections, satire, and basic news to help show voters how these ideals affect their lives. I think that this will allow for our readers to be involved in the project, but not get bored. All of the different genres bring new things to the table. Our main essay introduces the topic and the basic argument, while our op-ed piece gives a much more opinionated approach.

My favorite portion of the project is the use of satire. Our "Lost Commandments" and political cartoon show an extreme example of how people use religion in our country. Though I do believe that religion is very important and we need to keep from imposing our beliefs on those who do not want them. It is my hope that we can bring those who want to involve religion and don't want to involve religion together. After going through our project, I believe that our readers will understand the reasons on why we need to use all of our experiences to make decisions.

Blog Post 8 - Multi Genre Example

Sept. 23, 2008 - Chicago, IL – Almost one month after the Democratic National Convention, rumors have sprouted up, again, about the religion of the Democratic Presidential Nominee, Barack Obama. Since last January there have been reports that Obama is not a US citizen. Though no birth certificate has been provided, the campaign insists that Obama is a United States Citizen. This story has died off in late due to an uprising of reports that Obama is of Muslim heritage and descent. Obama’s father, a Kenyan citizen, gave his son the name Barack Hussein Obama, and this sparked the idea that Obama, in fact, is not Christian.

The Obama campaign was quick to set the record straight when asked at one of their campaign stops. Obama said, “I've been to the same church, the same Christian church, for almost 20 years.” When speaking to donors at the up scale downtown Chicago restaurant, Gibson’s, he made sure to put an emphasis on the word Christian. Not only has this story brought down Obama’s polling in many states, it has taken over the media. At every small town campaign stop, both the media outlets and voters are questioning Obama’s religion.

When speaking with voters, there is an overwhelming feeling that Obama has not been telling the whole truth about his religion. Martha Crosby, a 56 year old resident of Adams Mills, OH, explained how she was worried that if Obama was lying about his religion, she wanted to know, “What else is he hiding?” The other portion of Obama’s religion that is worrying voters, is the influence of Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Even though Obama is claiming to be Christian, voters are wondering if he is in line with the rest of America.

David Rockstead, a member of the St. Peter Lutheran Church in Fort Meyers Beach, FL, does not believe that Senator Obama has his best interests in mind. “Every time I hear Mr. Wright speak, it seems like he hates America. That is not someone I want to advise the President,” said David.

We went around to many different cities and asked everyday Americans what they thought of Obama’s religion. Some were supportive of Obama, and spoke to the fact that he was still Christian and that is what mattered. Whereas, many were upset that they could not be positive what religion Obama was, and that they told us that they needed a President who had the same moral and values as they did.
This will continue to play out between now and the election.
The Fox News team will continue to follow this important story as it develops and keep you updated on every breaking news story from the campaign.

The Lost Commandments

Thou shalt trust in me for all your monetary security.

Thou shalt always include my name when pledging yourself to your country.

Thou shalt ask for my help when swearing to the truth.

Thou shalt perform said swearing with one hand resting upon my holy book, or suffer thyself to be unbelieved.

Thou shalt include my name in as many speeches as possible, for this is how to stir the masses.

Thou shalt always profess thy belief in me, or suffer thyself to lose an election.

Thou shalt accept endorsements from my holy men, no matter how crooked or extreme they might seem.

Thou shalt know that I am always at thy side, even when thine enemy professes me to be at theirs.

Thou shalt always consult my holy book when deliberating over controversial matters, as it shall show you the truthful path.

Thou shalt ensure proper credit is given to me in all interviews about thy successes, and all failures shall be properly attributed to failures of thine self.

Trying Out Some Genres

I pledge allegiance to the flag

of the United States of America,

and the to the Republic,

for which it stands,

one nation

under God

indivisible

with liberty

and justice

for all.



I pledge allegiance to a country,

called the United states of America,

and to it’s values,

on which it stands,

one nation

under government

I n d I v I s I b l e

with freedoms

and justice

for all.


To Whom It May Concern:
As the pastor of an evangelical free church, I am well versed in both the scriptural instructions on choosing leadership in government and acquainted with the current candidates at hand. Though a man’s character may be manipulated and misrepresented through media, I have to believe Jesus that “every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit” (Matthew 7:17). I will vote for the candidate who best exemplifies and suggests a philosophy that will bear good fruit for the nation.
Many people accuse the Christian churches for their conservative natures; this is a generalization based on a true observation. The Christian church has historically always encountered surrounding government; sometimes ruling nations through Kings, sometimes being persecuted for radical thought, at times being misused to control others, sometimes bringing war and other times prosperity. But even in this country, before leftwing-rightwing political dogmas existed, the church was part of the governmental foundation for the free republic. Now that freedom wants to strip Christianity from history as if it never existed, as if it wasn’t the philosophy behind the Bill of Rights.
Have we forgotten the cities on the hills? Do we no longer care about the religious freedoms of our forefathers, the people who set us up to be a world superpower? Are we willing to blame Christianity, a religion which preaches generosity and love, for interfering with our democracy? “Do we, then, nullify the law by this [Christian] faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” –Romans 3:31
I suggest to you that Christian men and women do not harm the political system; Christian thought is not incompatible with justice. There are places where general moral consciousness and common ethical ideology overlap. The frenzy in pulling Christianity from government is like trying to pull a rope’s strands from each other; America was built on God, by men, for equality. All three are inextricably part of our nation’s history. What we do from now on is our generation’s decision, but changing the past is as futile as it is ignorant of our heritage.

Collaborative Project Ideas

Thesis

There is an unavoidable effect exerted on Government and Politics in America, whether or not the government claims to have a separation between church and state.

Options - focus on the 2008 campaign, showing how much effect religion had
- Show that religion has an effect on politics no matter what we do, and we can never exorcise it completely.

Audience

Voters in general- we are trying to show people that religion does indeed have an effect on politics, so that they can think about the issue and make better informed decisions.

Possible Genres
-Satire
-Magazine Article (i.e. part of the Christian Science Moniker)
-News stories (FOX News, MSNBC, etc)
-Political Cartoon
-Political Ads (poster, etc.)

Carbone & Sista Tongue

1. The Carbone essay seemed to be an insightful, realistic demonstration of how Alzheimer’s disease tangles both a brain and a family. Its argument was to explain the disease to those unfamiliar with it and inspire readers to become knowledgeable and empathetic with its victims. Its genres were simple, conspicuous, and short. It was definitely written to grab your attention and keep it page after page, rather than overwhelming you with long explanations or research. The short pages with pictures keeps it intentional, up front, and concise. The poems and letters and family photos make it personal. “Sista Tongue” was also informational, but a little more formal, and written both as personal accounts of accents/language issues and professional accounts of the history and status of things like bilingualism, dialect, Pidgin, and creole. Ultimately the essay argues that these "substandard" forms of English deserve more credit, tolerance, and respect in the standard English language. The effective part is the switch between, or in some cases the juxtaposition together, of official medical/science-type facts and dialogue, real examples of language, stories, etc.


2. The most effective pages in Carbone are the final ones—the final ends to long series of the same genre that builds up to a conclusion (the outline of a head without any pictures in it especially). These pages are important because we see the end of the progression that had previously been occurring in the essay, but they are a warning and a destination for the reader. For “Sista Tongue” I think the pages that have both the small, formal text and the big, wild-looking monologues are the most effective because I can compare the idea with an example simultaneously.

3. In Carbone the organization is the key to understanding the essay: it’s not a random conglomeration of tid bits about Alzheimer’s disease—it’s a carefully laid out progression of personal and professional encounters with victims and victim’s families. This format effectively brought in a lot of personal, informal information with some more factual, scientific information (not much, but a balance nonetheless). “Sista Tongue” is also a highly organized piece, but it’s more universally the same rather than having separate, continuous strands running throughout it. Though some pages are more about story and some about an experiment, for example, the same continuous balance between the formal analysis and informal demonstration is on almost every page (or every other). This format allowed the subject of the essay to be physically mirrored by the construction of the text, which adds an extra dimension to the argument as well as an interesting set-up for the reader.

4. Carbone has several very effective repretends—the brain outline filled with pictures, mind puzzles, poetry, family letters, and information from the medical world regarding the disease. These continuous runnings add a lot of emphasis and unity to the essay as a whole, and as each one layers on each other you get an organized, abstract idea instead of a bunch of random thoughts. “Sista Tongue” has two very important repetends—the small, boxed professional text and the quotations. There are also instances of stories, facts, historical documentation, and personal encounters but these two main figures seem to fight throughout the whole essay. They’re crucial to the essay because the contrast sets up and mirrors the exact argument of the essay, and they show the reader, not tell, how the spoken word can look and sound in different cultures.

5. I think the multigenre essay risks chaos. As an idea it practically begs to be overloaded and crowded with this and that and whatever else you can stuff in there that ‘fits.’ That’s what the monkey thing was. As both essays showed, it also has the potential to be very creative and artistic, unique to the writer and expressive of a personal theme. Though the “Sista Tongue” essay looks very hectic and scrambled, it is actually specifically made that way, I think, to better exemplify the random, chaotic message of language. It was also more finished than the pieces we looked at in class. It seems that multigenre writing has very few limits, and a lot of pitfalls. “Sista Tongue,” for example, got hard to read because of all the different directions and sizes of the text. My eye didn’t always know where to go. I think getting too abstract can suggest disorganization or difficulty for the reader, and I don’t think multigenre essays are supposed to be difficult. I think the point of using a lot of material and cutting it short is to hold their attention and make brief, sharp points rather than explain a lot. But too little explanation leaves fifty pages of random chunks of text for someone to read.

Carbone

The multigenre piece carbone seems to be mainly created to try to give the reader a feeling about what it's like to live with Alzheimer's. Instead of listing off facts and figures about the disease, it tries to give people the feeling of what it's really like to have, or to live with someone who has it; through a series of short blips, the reader is exposed to many of the difficult problems facing a family dealing with Alzheimer's. The audience is people like you and me, people that don't know much about the disease and have no idea what it's really like to deal with.

I think that in this piece it's the way all the genres are put together that's so effective. The blips of story are a great way to reach out to the reader. You start reading one of the stories, and it seems like a regular bit about a family; then you're hit with yet another example of how Alzheimer's affects people's lives. Then there's a break between stories, filled up with a poem or crossword puzzle or the like, followed by another story that hits you in the same way. It really is a great way to suck the reader into the world of Alzheimer's. There's a story to give you a jolt, then another piece to distract you away from the first story, then another story to give you a jolt again now that you've forgotten the feeling from the last one.

One issue that I have with the piece is that it's very long. I like how repetitive it is; making the same point over and over is very effective in this particular argument, as it really hammers the ideas home to the audience. However, by about halfway through the piece, I feel as though the point has already been made. The rest seems really like overkill, and tends to bore the reader and cause them to lose interest instead of adding to the argument at all.

Overall, the piece is very well done. The use of different genres and repetition is very effective, it just goes on for a bit too long.

Sista Tongue - Review

This collaboration seems to focus mainly on language, and how it is different among different cultures of people. It seems like they try to show how many different people are using English, and how it can always sound very different. The purpose, as far as I can tell, is to inform the public on the differences in the English language. If you are from a Hawaiian dissent, you will speak differently than someone from the inner city of Chicago, who will speak differently than someone from upstate New York. There are many different way to use language, and while talking about it in this piece, it even uses different genres to use those different types of speech. The main audiences seems to be almost everyone, but could be focused on people interested in communication or speech.

I thought that each different genre promoted a different idea, but I felt like the first one seemed to be the most out there. I liked that it used a different form of English, but I did not like the way it was set up. The way in which some words were bigger, and how at some points there were random statements. It seemed very bumpy, and not to the point. I feel if they were able to arrange it a little better, it would have added more to the piece.

I don't know if I really gained or lost anything after reading this. The different genres were interesting, but again, sometimes hard to follow. I think that is mostly do to the arrangement. I wish they would have been able to make the first genre more clear (maybe the point was to be unclear?).

The piece really created a repeating atmosphere. On one part, due to the subject, but also going back and forth between the genres and way in which they were presented on the page made it flow much better.

I feel that this one was meant to be more polished, but it came off as messy and unclear. That is just my opinion, and again, I think it is just the fact that I did not like the arrangement of some of the writing. On a whole though, the piece did a good job of creating a multi-genre paper, while still connecting all of the pieces in an interesting fashion.