paper topic

I'm still not entirely sure what I would like to talk about for my paper, but possible topics that are interesting:
1. Linking media to how people are more aware of what is going on in politics
2. Recent President Obama's interviews with people who are less in the political eye and how this effects his presidency.
3. Advertisements and commercials breaking out and raising awareness to certain situations such as gay marriage, etc.

Still need to think more about topics and how to relate to a theory, but these choices have been on my mind.

Paper topic

Paper topic

The two I'm mulling over is, first, linking Occupy to invitational rhetoric and, second, making the link that shows like House of Cards are ruining politics. In specific, ruining the ideals of the millenial generation. I want to link it to Cultivation theory and mean world syndrome.

I'm liking the second idea more...any thoughts?

Paper topic

1. "Elections" chapter of Stephen Colbert book, America Again

Paper Topic

Armenian Genocide (1915) and Syria's Genocide (Now)

Still thinking about other possible topics...

Gloria Steinem

Today is the birthday of women's rights activist Gloria Steinem. In her early professional years she found herself writing for a newspaper with assignments focused on women...types of stockings, makeup, or babies. In this video I watched, which I will include, she made it kind of clear that her boss saw her as someone who would go to a hotel with him during lunch or merely as someone who would do his secretarial work. It wasn't until she was given an assignment to cover an abortion trial that she realized she needed to create change. She stated that women need a revolution rather than reform, something that rhetoric plays perfectly in to.

Once the women's movement was well on its way her and a few followers decided to create a magazine. They titled the magazine "Ms." and it took off brilliantly, selling out in the first week. She mentioned, in the video, that these injustices towards women are so great that if they were just explained to people..they would get respect and understanding. It might be a stretch but I felt a sense of invitational rhetoric in her words. She knew there needed to be a revolution but she wanted to do it through people willingly siding with her and the movement rather than using certain gimmicks of rhetoric to force them on her side.

Justice is served.... but it took 32 years.

A 74 year old women is released from prison for a crime she did not do. Mary Virginia Jones spent 32 years in prison for a crime her past boyfriend committed. The Post-Convicted Justice Project picked up the case At USC college and won for the justice of Ms. Jones. The case was defeated because Ms. Jones was involved in the murder because she was held against her will. She did not commit the murders, her ex boyfriend did which the USC participants were able to prove.

I personally have mixed emotions about this story. I'm deeply disturbed that Ms. Jones spent three decades of her life missing out on the beauties in life. We only live once. I also am annoyed with once again how the media is presenting this case. I do see the positive that justice is served but it did take 32 years for that to happen. What about the hundreds if not thousands of people without fancy lawyers that are serving time for something they did not commit.

Young Voters

We have continuely discussed the relation that the younger generation has with politics as well as engaging with the public sphere of news. While we have not truly focused on the younger generation and our government, I think that this article truly exempflies the power that our younger generation has on our future. The article dicusses the importance and the intensity of the milliena generation and their ability to change the way our governement is ran. What makes younger voters so crucial to voting is that they are the target audience for campaining as well as the younger voters have the desire to vote. They milliena masses are not jaded by politics nor are skeptic to what is presented before them. The media and the public sphere aids itself towards us, it is shaped to invoke reaction as well as desire within ourselves.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/03/21/young-voters-would-be-key-in-a-hillary-clinton-presidential-race-but-can-she-win-them-over/