Assignment Seven- Charts, Graphs, and Other Data

There are many ways information is presented on the Internet. Different kinds of information, or data, are best shown in different ways. People make decisions on how to do this- they choose to use words, graphics, pictures, music, audio, video, or some combination of all of them.

When you want to prove your point of view, you should find the best way to present your evidence. 

For example, what would be the best way to present the data that would support the following statement?

"The problem in a nutshell is this: Inequality in this country has hit a level that has been seen only once in the nation's history, and unemployment has reached a level that has been seen only once since the Great Depression. And, at the same time, corporate profits are at a record high."
-Henry Blodget

• Task- go to the link to find out how the author decided to present the information for this topic
• On a blank word document, make a list of the reasons for the protest, as presented in this article. 
• Choose one line graph chart, one bar graph, and one pie chart. Drag them to your desk top.
• Add the three graphs/charts to your word document. Under each graph discuss the meaning of the information that is presented and how it helps support the viewpoint of the author of the article.

Here's What The Wall Street Protesters Are So Angry About..

 

Assignment Six: Photo Essay

There is a saying that picture is worth a thousand words. It is true that a viewer can make a fast assessment or judgment about a picture or photograph without words getting in the way.

Because of that fact, photographs can be a good source of unbiased information. What you see is what you get.

But can you be manipulated by pictures? Anyone who has seen a picture of a sad puppy on a donation box knows that the answer to that question is yes!

The Internet is a rich medium of both words and pictures. What is important to think about is that every picture and photograph you see posted on some website has been chosen by someone.  

So you should ask yourself some questions when you evaluate pictures on the internet-

• What is the purpose of the picture?
• What information is in the picture? 
• What is the emotional impact of the picture?
• Who picked the picture?
• Does the picture show anything about the opinion of the person who placed the picture on the website?
• Why did they choose this picture?
• Does the choice of that picture show any  positive or negative bias?

TASK- The Boston Globe newspaper website posts photo essays every week  that present  world news events.

•  Do a Google search for Boston Globe Big Picture.
• Locate the "Occupy Wall Street Global Protests"  which was posted October 17,2011
• Examine the 40 photographs you find there.
•  Choose your ten favorites and drag them to the desktop. Create a file and put them in it.
• Create a blank word document. Write your name on it!
• Drag or paste one of the pictures onto the blank page. The photo will automatically resize to fit the page.
• Under the photo write a paragraph about the photo. Include the facts and information you get from that photo. Do you have any emotional response to the photo? Also answer questions like "Why did they choose this picture?"  Include any feelings you get about whether the creators of the photo essay are sympathetic, neutral, or negatively biased against the subject of the photo essay.

• Repeat this for all ten of the pictures that you picked.

Rubric for Assignment Five Essay/Research Paper

Your essay should answer the topic/ focus question- “Did Steve Jobs change the world?”

Your essay should be written in your own words. However that may include restating information you have discovered in your research, and using direct quotations. In both cases you must cite your sources!

Your essay must include information from a minimum of five sources.

Those five sources (minimum) must be cited TWO ways!

First way to cite-  in the body of your essay. (For example- Joe Smith of the Daily News said that…)

Second way to cite- In a bibliography at the end of your essay (see the posting on how to cite your sources).

So, just to be clear,  each source is cited twice!

Your essay must have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.

Your essay should be three typed pages in a 14 point ‘arial’ or ‘times new roman’ font

You may include one picture  if you wish, but it is not required.

DO NOT submit a collection of cut and pasted paragraphs from different websites. That will not be acceptable!

How to cite an Internet source

There are two ways to cite an Internet source that will be required in this class.


First, you can and should tell where your information is coming from in the body of your essay.
 You do it like this- 

In his article in the New York Post titled Please Leave Wall Street Alone!, Joe Smith said that " The protesters are a bunch of unorganized idiots...."

This way it is vey clear where the information came from.


Second, you must put the same information in a bibliography at the end of your essay. This is where you include the URL address, the name of the website, the author, and the date it was written and or the date that you found and read it.


Please go to this link from Montgomery College for examples on how cite an Internet source in a bibliography.

http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/library/citinginternet.pdf

Assignment Five- Steve Jobs

Who was Steve Jobs and how did he change the world?

For this assignment, please research the question above. Use your internet research skills to find biographical information and also what people's opinions are about him. Be aware of what is fact and what may be bias. 

Please gather your facts and prepare to write a biographical essay about his life that includes information on how he changed the world.

You must cite your sources in the final essay so keep notes on where your information was found (the URL links, the website name, and authors). We will have a lesson soon on the way your college professors expect you to be able to cite your sources so that you are never accused of plagiarism.

Assignment Four- Editorials

Occupy Wall Street PART TWO- Editorials

In the New York Post article “Ghoulish on Wall St”, October 4, 2011, The writers HANNAH RAPPLEYE, DAREH GREGORIAN and BOB FREDERICKS used some interesting words to describe the protest. They said such things as: “The wacky Occupy Wall Street protest…” and “The move came as the protest’s loopy lefties showed no signs of giving up their chaotic rallies…”

See this article at http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/ghoulish_on_wall_st_he7Pz8IHFneJgsKWQtbeNO

The use of words like wacky, loopy, and chaotic clearly tell us that the writers and the newspaper are biased against the protest.

While the NY Post makes their feelings obvious, other news sources still have bias although it may be harder to see. In the research we have already done on the Occupy Wall Street protest it was interesting to see how some news sources seemed sympathetic to the protest and protesters, and others seemed hostile.

A good news source should try to remain neutral (not take sides), but there is a place in newspapers where opinions are usually expressed- the Editorial section.

Steps

1. Do internet searches for “Occupy Wall Street opinion” and  “Occupy Wall Street editorial”

2. Download a fresh (blank) copy of the document we have been using.

3. Fill in the boxes the same way except for in the box for facts, write down the opinion of the writers in the articles you find.

Here are some additional opinion sites you can visit:

politics.salon.com

http://politics.salon.com/2011/10/03/occupy_wall_street_todays_whiskey_rebellion/

Thebloodycrossroads.com

http://thebloodycrossroads.com/403/the-mass-media%E2%80%99s-disgraceful-coverage-of-occupy-wall-street/

marketwatch.com

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wall-street-elites-enjoy-police-protection-2011-09-27?link=MW_story_investinginsight

censorshipinamerica.com

http://censorshipinamerica.com/2011/09/29/occupy-wall-street-fighting-bankster-greed-and-the-surveillance-state/

Assignment Three- Following the Media

One of our goals for this class is to train ourselves to look closely at the websites we get our information from. We should always be questioning if the information is reliable, reputable, and if there is bias that might change the way the 'facts' are presented.


In our last assignment, many students stated that they trusted the news media such as newspapers and television news programs and the websites connected to them. The most common reason given  for trusting them is because they are well known sources.


In today's assignment we will look at how the news media covers a news event to look and see if there are any differences in how the same event is presented to us. This will help us be more sensitive to bias that may effect even the news sources we trust the most.

You may have heard about the protest that has been going on in Manhattan. For  this assignment, please search for "occupy wall street" on the internet.

STEP ONE

Look at several (many) websites that come up and check on the following things-

1. What are the basic facts?

2. Are the facts on different websites the same or different?

3. Do some sites seem friendly to the protest in some ways?

4. Do some sites seem  unfriendly?

5. On a Microsoft Word page document take some notes on 1,2,3,4. Make sure you copy the URLs when you cut and paste some examples when you find them. These notes will be checked on and counted as class work!