Research & Argumentation
For the Research & Argumentation assignment in class, I was instructed to conduct a YouTube Conversation with two of my classmates. I had to choose a YouTube video then comment on it as an advocate for the video. My group members held a conversation with me, where one was the interrogator and the other was the antagonist. Conversations like this also took place on my two group members' chosen YouTube videos, where they both played as the advocates for their own videos.
The next project in this Research & Argumentation assignment was the Annotated Bibliography. I had to create an annotated bibliography which was required to include certain components, some of these included: an online journal, a print book, a website, material (images, movies, books, or music) from the present, and material (movies, books, music, or images) from before the 1980s. The most tedious, most involved project in the Research & Argumentation segment was the Video Mash-up, this was a culmination of the YouTube Conversation and the Annotated Bibliography assignments and much more. This mash-up was based off me choosing a topic that I feel strongly about and collecting videos, music, and images then putting them together into one creative video mash-up. |
My YouTube Conversation can be found by clicking on the button below:
You can find my Annotated Bibliography if you click on the following button:
If you would like to view my Video Mash-up and its components (proposal and storyboard) you can simply click on one of the buttons below:
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Video Mash-up Reflection #1:
The fourth core value of the Rowan University Writing Arts major states, "Writing Arts students will be able to investigate, discover, evaluate and incorporate material into the creation of text." I believe that through the Video Mash-up assignment I have reflected this core value in its entirety. For a list of the nine core values, click here. The great deal of effort put forth in completing this project directly imitates the core value given above. This project would not have been correctly or effectively completed without investigating a topic and information related to the topic, discovering videos, music, and images, incorporating these elements into Windows Live Movie Maker, and evaluating which of the materials to keep, what parts of them to use, and which to eliminate. Through this detailed process I created text, digital text. This project relied heavily, and almost solely, on digital writing. Traditional writing, where one takes a pencil and a piece of paper and records their thoughts, emotions, conversations, etc. was not very welcome in the creation of this mash-up. The internet was the main source of information, both for gathering material for the project as well as for exposing the project for others (for example, my professor, my classmates, and anyone else in the world who is on YouTube that happens to see my mash-up) to view. The use of digital writing in the Video Mash-up meant that there was a lot of typing, clicking, and dragging as opposed to handwriting. I do not recall any instances where I used a pencil and paper throughout the over twelve hours I worked on this assignment. Thoughts of traditional writing were put aside while I was completing this project because I was so engrossed in digital writing. The experience this Video Mash-up provided me in working with digital writing was a beneficial one. Although digital writing differs greatly from traditional writing and therefore was intimidating at first, I was able to learn information about digital writing and become one step closer in becoming a skilled digital writer. Throughout this assignment I faced struggles that caused me to stop in my tracks and grow overwhelmed and feel defeated. These issues were different than the ones found in traditional writing. Rather than being faced with a pencil that needed to be sharpened so the lead would appear on the paper, I was faced with things like a movie clip being unable to be downloaded for free, which meant I needed to find an alternative route if I wanted that video to be included in my mash-up. However, after working through these difficulties I had new knowledge about the area I had trouble in and will therefore know the solution immediately next time. Digital writing is definitely a form of writing that requires practice. I am grateful for the opportunity to complete this Video Mash-up which provided me with ample practice to consider myself a beginning digital writer who can create a beginner video mash-up. |
Video Mash-up Reflection #2:
Throughout the process of completing the Video Mash-up project, from when I began thinking about a topic, to the final draft being embedded onto my website which can be found here, I encountered breakdowns. These breakdowns were instances where I was faced with a difficulty that I did not think I was capable of overcoming. However, with time, thought, internet searches, and sometimes help from my professor, I worked through each of these frustrations.
I think that through recognizing these breakdowns and working through them, rather than just pushing them aside and therefore not achieving the desired end result, I have put the fifth core value of the Rowan University Writing Arts major into action. This core value is as follows, "Writing Arts students will demonstrate self-critical awareness of their writing." A list of the nine core values can be found here. Some of the roadblocks that I stumbled across were being unable to rip a video without paying a cost which meant I needed to find another way to download the video - in this situation, my professor offered the advice that I videotape the movie clip with my phone then download that onto the computer, which was the perfect solution. Between the different drafts of my mash-up I added elements, omitted elements, and altered elements. These edits, cuts, and revisions were all made in an attempt to better the quality of my mash-up. Some of these were very difficult to perform, but they have been accomplished. The videos in the series "Everything is a Remix" show in great detail that although some may deny, nothing is actually original. This was eye-opening for me. I had never before realized that even when I think I do/say things that are original, I am really just copying someone or something else in part or in whole. My mash-up is the ideal example of this. To create my mash-up I had to take movie clips, documentaries, cartoons, etc. that were also made my other people, either recently or many years ago. I want to feel as though my mash-up is original, because I put so much time, effort, and hard-work into it, but it really is not my own, since I incorporated so many outside sources. Watching the remix videos helped me put the mash-up into perspective and realize that more things than I would like to believe are not original. After all, everything is a remix is some way or another, as the producer of the video series, Kirby Ferguson depicted. |