A test of time and ambiguity, Daedalus and Icarus

College Writing II, Photo Essay

Daedalus and Icarus is a Greek Mythology about a son and a father that are in a maze. Also in the maze, is a Minotaur that is supposed to kill them? Daedalus fashions him and his son a pair of wings to escape the maze; he tells his son not to fly to close to the son because the wax will melt.  Icarus his son does not listen to his dad, Daedalus and flies to close to the sun.

What gives me interest about this Myth are the mannerisms Icarus displays, he does not listen to his dad even though he had Icarus’s best interests at heart. The metaphors behind the Myth are very interesting; the whole idea of flying into the sun (the bright, life giving sun) and how the sun when you get to close burns you. The wings could be metaphoric as way of escape and the absolute genius that Daedalus had to possess to make them.

My Photo Essay
^^ this is the link to my photo essay

In regards to the audience, I want them to question why the tale of Daedalus and Icarus is still around. I tried to keep it clear and concise with my pictures and argument to make sure I don’t overload them with information. I did not however lower any bars, or talk down to my audience but instead metaphorically treated them to the same way I felt when I asked myself why the myth was still relevant.

For me the myth is relevant because is brings you just deep enough to be completely fascinated with the tale and then leaves you to question exactly what it meant.

Purposes

I feel as if the mythology of Daedalus and Icarus is still relevant in today’s society. Even though it is from Ancient Greece it is still referenced today. 

·         I would use images of the TV shows that reference Icarus or the legend.

·         I would add pictures of the way it is used in modern day architecture or just mentioned in passing.

·         I might add that it is still taught to AJFROTC kids in the curriculum as early ideas of flight.

·         It is the hipster idea of a song title. And I would want to include the song maybe in the background. 

How it is used:

My mediums and image choices were very random and taken everywhere. I did not have to look too far in anyone direction to connect Greek mythology to today. The thought provocation I want to happen to the audience is one of random chance. I am not trying to force any idea onto the audience. However, I did add text to my pictures because I needed to be clear with my intentions.

To test the effectiveness of my photo essay I asked myself if I could draw the same conclusion as an individual not as interested in the subject. I believe that questions of the why, are the most intrinsic and fascinating so yes people would be inclined.

Honestly, I won’t know if I hit my target until someone does ask the question 'why'. But for me I think this turned out as well as I could have hoped with my shaky foundation with photo essays. 

My Experience with the Photo Essay, College Writing II

In College Writing II we are currently writing a photo essay. The photo essay is a new way of looking at a writing assignment and writing something that's not only words. We started the process off by looking at a photo essay on the Times website I believe; which showed us all the food the world eats. It helped me see how effective pictures can be in an essay and showed me that the pictures can be just as effective as words. The pictures of that photo essay had something to say about the food that the everyday person in the world consumed and showed the differences between countries. It was a highly effective rhetoric that showed the viewer the subject matter much more effectively than words could have. 

Currently my class and I, are being asked to do something similar. My photo essay is on Icarus and Daedalus and how the Greek Mythology is relevant still. 

What gives me interest about this Myth are the mannerisms Icarus displays, he does not listen to his dad even though he had Icarus’s best interests at heart. The metaphors behind the Myth are very interesting; the whole idea of flying into the sun (the bright, life giving sun) and how the sun when you get to close burns you. The wings could be metaphoric as way of escape and the absolute genius that Daedalus had to possess to make them. 

But the fact that the Greek Mythology is still prevalent in today's culture is fascinating !!

My favorite example of how the Icarus legend is still influencing us: is a song by Bastille Icarus which is a great song about "flying to close to the sun" or doing something that will kill you even though it's alluring.

But all in all the photo essay is a very challenging but interesting way to write and I'm enjoying it. 

A College II Writing Assignment : Analyzing Visual Rhetoric

An assignment Analyzing rhetoric, hopefully with rhetoric on its own. 

There is a certain curiosity that people have when confronted with people with personality disorders. Are the people with personality disorders like us in some ways, and what makes them different? Sociopathy is a disorder in which the person has an extreme anti-social behavior. The anti-social behavior is not the same as being introverted but allies itself more closely with “one who does not follow social norms”. (Merriam, 2007) Sociopath’s are the manipulative con man, the person who lies to your face even when he does not have to. “The child who tortures animals, the cold-blooded killer; psychopaths are characterized by an absence of empathy and poor impulse control, with a total lack of conscience.” (Sociopathic World). Sociopathic World is a website that broaches the subject of sociopathy in a revolutionary way; the website gives a more realistic idea of who and what a “sociopath” is.

            Sociopaths are fascinating individuals because they live outside the social norms of society and think with a mind foreign to the average person. Sociopathic World takes an open but informative approach for its format that bespeaks it wants the reader informed on the subject matter; a subject matter that is highly abnormal and perhaps a stretch on what is acceptable to talk about and perhaps unacceptable to accept.

The purpose of the website seems motivated by a writer who knows about the subject matter first hand. The website is set up in the manner of a blog. Blog formats make the website seem more personal, and the author of it seems to want to make this subject very personal from the way that they set up the website. Another thing that adds to the focus of the websites format it the multiple pages and tabs to click on which allows the reader to forge their own path through the subject matter. The motivations do not seem selfish of ill intent because the writer only informs the reader sympathetically of the plight of sociopaths. Nowhere does he argue for it being right or wrong just that it is what it is. The format seems to be simple and confrontational, the back round is very stoically white but there is also a white theatre mast that makes it something that confronts the viewer.

                                   

                                        

                Fig. 1 Image taken off Sociopathic World, via February 21, 2014    

I would have to say the mask in the back round is the picture of exactly what a sociopath is someone who looks like everyone else but underneath someone completely alien. This is probably the most confrontational image on the website and it purposefully is put in the back round to keep the image in the forefront of the viewer’s mind so that they never forget the true face of the intriguing sociopaths.

The audience are people directly interested in sociopaths/ sociopaths themselves/ or people who have encountered others with personality disorders. The website does an excellent job of catering to its audience whether it is any of the three above. It is informative and explains while giving an interesting perspective of the subject matter. The visuals give a reference as to what a sociopath looks like to the reader. Sociopaths look ambiguous and the visual and text work together to create an atmosphere of personality disorder.

The Author’s ethos is not that of a physiatrist and that takes away from the papers scientific credibility. The Author does however have a deep understanding and a logical voice that gives credit to the subject. Ethos is evident in the citation of firsthand accounts, where the author uses reliable sources on its subject matter on the website. Credibility becomes less in as much that he is not a physiatrist, which detracts a bit from the website but gains credibility because it is a very persuasively logical. Ethos in the visuals shows up in the pictures that are ambiguous and clean. The pictures could be applicable to anything and used in the blog make it a little more normal.       

          

                                

Figure 2, Image taken off Sociopathic World, via February 21, 2014   

The Authors Logos does not seem biased in any way on the subject of sociopathy. The website presents itself singular, from an agenda. The quality of the message and quantity seem unlimited; the evidence seems endless and all of the statements supported with real experience accounts. A weakness that arises on the website is the fact that others can comment their own opinions and that may detract from the argument.  The comments add to the credibility as well though, being a place for sociopaths to comment. Where pathos is, concerned sociopaths are not emotional and the only emotional argument is cold aloofness. Particular emotions the author evokes are the emotions that the readers give themselves. An argument is presented to the reader to draw whatever conclusions they can from the blog and to read it with their own inferences.

The predominant focus in the blog is the text. The visual is a second and not as relied upon as the text but it is relevant.  Visual and Text in the blog do complement each other and add rhetoric towards the sociopathic image that the website is about. The visual brings home the message of the text and deepens the understanding of the text. The visual is places in the back round and in the beginnings of each text. If the visual were absent, the text would be less effective. The visual makes the text more interesting and more appealing to read.

Sociopathic World the website, engages the reader through ethos, pathos, and logos, in a semi interactive experience while they read about what a sociopath is. The visuals in the back round employ an austere white color to keep the atmosphere thought provoking. The curiosity people have with sociopaths heightens with this atmosphere. The atmosphere brings home a difference between an average person and someone with a personality disorder. The website does a good job using the rhetorical triangle and keeping the reader interested. Sociopathy is explained in a digestible format so that people looking for more information on it will find it.                                               

                                                       Works Cited

"Sociopath." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.

<http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sociopath>.

Sociopath World, . "A portrait of a Sociopath." . N.p.. Web. 20 Feb 2014.

<http://www.sociopathworld.com/>.

Sociopath World, . "Figure One the back round." . N.p.. Web. 20 Feb 2014.

<http://www.sociopathworld.com/>.

Sociopath World, . "Figure Two." . N.p.. Web. 20 Feb 2014.

<http://www.sociopathworld.com/>.

Michael the Magnificently Mad. 

My little brother Michael is my favorite person to interact with. He is the most decidedly backwards person there ever was. Michael is about 12 and knows everything there is to know about everything.

 He spews out all of the information he hears in the loudest way so that everyone will hear what he has to say. I guess  there are worse ways to communicate, and his way is quite amusing. 

 There he is making friends with those two nice gentlemen !!

 I'm just like everybody else.

Sometimes people tell Michael that he can act anyway he wants because he's a little challenged. Michael wears hearing aides because he can't always hear what is going on, he has ADHD and Dyslexia. 

Michael is my little brother but he is none of those things and his actions are his own. 

He uses hearing aids to hear better and that's it. His ADHD is nothing more than focus misplaced. Michael preforms magnificently when focused and doesn't let his ADHD or his Dyslexia define him. 

This one time Michael was well Michael in class and came home with a pretty bad note from his teacher and my mom just jogged it off as normal. Michael was tickled pink that he got away with his behavior until I got home from school. I promptly made him write an apology letter to the teacher and the students.But the point isn't that I'm an overbearing sister or that he was being punished.The point I hope to make is that Michael wrote that letter with the understanding that those were indeed his actions that he needed to take ownership of. At first I thought it was cute and I laughed at how my little brother played people but then I realized; Michael irregardless of the people had to be held accountable by someone. 

 Michael is more intelligent than his bad behavior and when I expected him to own up to it he did and he even wrote why it was wrong. It is my very strong personal opinion that people need to be held accountable for their behavior and not holding them to it hurts them the most.I want my brother to grow into the most fully independent and well adjusted member of society he can be. If that means being the big bad than I guess I accept. 

Anyways..

I'm quite glad Michael is my little brother. ! Even though of course as my little brother he drives me up a wall most days. I learn so much from him even though he's quite a few years younger than I am.

This is me and him sometime last year. Right now he's probably living life up unregulated.. I'm pretty stranded at college so the eye of Sauron isn't reaching him there. 

Thoughts on Blogging brought to you via. My College Writing II Class 

What are our responsibilities to each other when we blog ? Do we have responsibilities to others when we communicate? 

I think that we have a responsibility to life, as ambiguous as that sounds.

Whatever we take out of our self and make manifest into something by exstention might be something of a responsibility. My responsibility is to be sincere and honest. 

 Responsibility is definitely far reaching and never ending, it's much easier to joke than to explain to other people though why you feel the way you do. I still haven't figured out how to articulate the bigger ideas in my head so mostly I make them into jokes. My responsibility for now to people and to everything is being as sincere as I am asked to be. 

Really though I don't think responsibility is a joke, unless of course you ask me in person. 

Yeah anyways Blogging is cool I suppose. 

This is actually a result of my earlier fixation with all things syfy. But in my opinion this is the best family portrait ever taken. I'm the smaller person all the way on the left. But I can now say 6 years later that I am taller than my mom; but still shorter than my dad.

The really small person in the first image is my brother Michael and he's well just about the same height as me so for all my bravado with height I'm still seeing square one. 

I'd really like to tell you how extraordinary he is but I'm committed tonight so I'll tell you later.

Retrospectively Introspective. 

An inflection of thought 

Honestly, I'm not to sure what your going to find by reading my blog; I am not to sure there is anything worth finding. But you can have some of my thoughts mostly unfiltered. I'd like to think that I at least do some -review but for the most part here are some thoughts that have passed through my mind, unfiltered. (mostly)

Well the actual "philosophies" of life and approaching it seem as good a place as any.

 I'd like to just begin by saying that I am the most direct person I can be.
I currently am just typing the words as they flow through my head and hoping beyond all else that my mind doesn't wander. The result would probably be a lot of disjunctive thoughts.
 Disjunctive thoughts are not necessarily a bad thing but I'd like to be more organized with my mind. 

So about them Stoics?

So here's something I wrote a bit ago on Roman Stoicism.. Well I had to write it for class so it might have a funny theme but I think it got an A.. and feel free to give me a lower grade like a "D" for Dreadful of a "T" for Troll.  

            The pursuit of life is found in the reasons that people have for the things that they do. Philosophy is an outlook for life that can help center one’s self and give meaning to life. Each person has a different ideology of life, which means they often have a different philosophy and governing of their principles. Stoicism is the philosophy common in Ancient Rome and a kind of moral compass for Romans such as Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. Both Marcus Aurelius and Seneca were influenced by the philosophy of stoicism which lead to the way they managed their political and social lives.

            Stoicism as a way of life is in essence the belief that the universe is ordered. The ruling principle according to the Stearns handout, underlay all things. The philosophy of stoicism emphasizes human strength in dealing with lives misfortunes, while offering an avenue to individual happiness. Stoics reasoned that people shared the logic of the cosmos because everyone is a part of the universe. This reasoning lead to the stoics treating people much more fairly because of their beliefs, they believed that humanity was one; natural law governs the cosmos and rules all in this philosophy.

            Marcus Aurelius and Seneca where very influenced by the philosophy of stoicism. Marcus Aurelius in Book two says: Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness—all of them due to the offender’s ignorance of what is good or evil. But for my part I have long perceived the nature of good and its nobility, the nature of evil and its meanness, and also the nature of the [evildoer] himself, who is my brother (not in the physical sense, but as a fellow-creature similarly endowed with reason and a share of the divine) therefore none of those things can injure me, for nobody can implicate me in what is degrading”. In those words, Marcus Aurelius shows the discourse a stoic would give for the reasons “he” does things. The stoicism influenced Marcus Aurelius with the logic of the cosmos that made the worldly influences bearable. Not only were they bearable for Marcus Aurelius but he thrived in his own place and time. The stoic philosopher fulfilled with reason and natural law.

            Seneca, yet another Roman influenced in his life by the principles of stoicism, has trouble with the idea of slaves. The idea of slaves for a person who is stoic is not an impossible thought but it is one that is at least broached with question. The stoic would see a slave as a logical equal, bound by the constraints of the world to their master; but in their mind free. This probably wouldn’t have created too much of a problem but the question seems likely to always be asked, why? Seneca in Epistle 47 writes to his friend Lucius on the matter of slaves: “It by no means displeases me, Lucius [a friend], to hear from those who confer with you, that you live on friendly terms with your slaves. This attests to your good sense and education. Are they slaves? No, they are men: they are comrades; they are humble friends. Nay, rather fellow-servants, if you reflect on the equal power of Fortune over both you and them.” Seneca not only doesn’t see the slaves as slaves but sees himself as not a master but a fellow servant; possibly to the grandeur of the logical natural world.

            Personally and public people must be congruent. Stoicism influenced Seneca and Marcus Aurelius to look at the world with a self-mastery, something synonymous with the natural world of logic. The philosophy of stoicism had such a profound impact on the culture of the time and the idea of oneness that allowed for the republic that was Rome; and for Marcus Aurelius and Seneca to govern fairly.

Well I think this is enough big ideas for today.