Friday, December 11, 2015

Friday, November 6, 2015

Video with Narration Sample 11/6/2015

https://youtu.be/VhwSuudfBgE

Script:

So this is an example of a video game that can be said to lead to violent behavior. It has a fair amount of guns, death, explosions, and so on. So it's a prime example of the type of game that would have fingers pointed towards it if someone was to argue for the "violent video games cause violent behavior."

This actual clip was from a campaign play though that I did with my little brother. This is a game that we bond over, and we've spent well over 100 hours playing it.

This sort of game, where two people cooperate to get to an objective, has a positive effect on those who play it. It teaches you to work well with another person, and to share resources effectively between the two of you.

 I like to think that we aren't more violent because of it,


Friday, October 30, 2015

Persuasive Argumentative Blog Post 10/30/15

In my documentary, I will initially explore the question of whether video games cause violence. I will then do into the impact that a generation of violent video games has had. In my presentation, I simplified many complex ideas, such as the the idea that video games are a scape goat. There are a lot of factors that go into that viewpoint. There are many reasons for pushing away the attention from guns to video games, and recently there has been a shift to using mental disorders as a new scapegoat, but not in the same sense of the word. And I certainly don't have enough of a political background to dive into understanding the shift, and what it means for both the video game industry and mental health, Both of which are related to one another in a completely different manner.

Another idea that I simplified was desensitization. I very quickly went over what desensitization does and doesn't mean, and how it can affect a population. But I did not go into the mechanisms through which individuals become desensitized. There is also the idea that you become desensitized to more than just violence. This looks into the trash talk and incredibly obscene language used in games. This sort of thing is not limited to violent games. It can be seen across the board. The language used by video gamers is not a product of video games alone.  As a society, obseneties have become more normal than they have been, and one would think that trash talk is a by product of this, not a mechanism. And so on.

So you see, there was too much oversimplification in my presentation, and in my documentary I will try to focus on these 2 main points. I will investigate further these ideas and try to come up with my own ideas as well. Which will be based heavily on research and my own experience with gaming culture.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Research Question 10/5/2015

With the topic of the Muslim community in mind, there are many different aspects that I might expand on. One of which could be the following: What does the careful treading of Muslims in America mean for the country. This research question is not refined, but it is a beginning point. I hope to generalize it to something that relates back to Muslims. I'm just not entirely sure yet how I will achieve this goal. I will most likely be using the library research as the topics related to such a question have been a hot topic for the last 10+ years. I think I will craft the essay with a introduction that explains the terms within the reaserach qustion, and then actually looking into the question in the body. Meaning that I will give examples of the delicate ground Muslims walk on, and then I will talk about the actual question and what it means.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Secondary Source 2 9/22/15

http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/Neighbors-concerned-over-proposed-Islamic-center-in-Lexington-288463121.html

I could not locate any articles on my topic through the library search functions. This could be due to how incredibly specific my topic is, as I was searching specifically for topics relating to the lexington community and Masjid Bilal. I did however locate a news article and video that pertained to one of the points I will be making. In order to locate the article, I looked into past news relate to the Lexington Islamic community. I see the article as a way of saying that there was not initial intention of building a Mosque in the north of the city, which has the smallest percentage of the Muslim population. This article alone can be used to shoot down not only negative points, but also good points. I look forward to using it not to expand my ideas, but to tie knots that have been hanging loose.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Blog Post: Secondary Source 1

My secondary source is a online article taken from the Lexington Herald-Leader website page. It discusses in a brief summary the history behind the new mosque built on Russell Cave road, and the reasons for building it. It seems to be the result of an increase of the Muslim community over recent years, and it is a new chapter in the city's Muslim community, which reaches back over 40 years. I will use this source as a means of connecting the dots and backing up the statements I claim are facts, thus boosting my legitimacy. I will also use it to target the informality that the Muslim leaders have in relation to the public, and the negative and positive factors that brings into play. Here is the actual source. I will cite it adequately within the actual essay.

http://www.kentucky.com/2014/08/25/3395980_mosque-under-construction-in-lexington.html?rh=1