College Writing 2 Multi Modal

Unsupported Claims

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/even-republicans-mystified-by-trumps-voter-fraud-claims/

After the presidential election Donald Trump was a bit upset to see that Hilary Clinton won the popular vote by  about 3 million votes. So as a result of this President Trump made the absurd claims that those 3 million were from voters who are illegal and demanded further investigation on the voting polls. Even other republicans were astounded to hear that Trump was complaining about the popular vote when he had already won the presidency. Some republicans even denounced his claims about those 3 million votes being illegal immigrants and stated that Trump needed to backup those claims.

Article Summary

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/video-events-fatal-ferguson-shooting-film-46081481


        This article gives another perspective to the Michael Brown case. A new documentary claims that previously unreleased footage of the event suggests that Michael Brown didn't in fact rob the convenience store.
        Jason Pollock, one of the filmmakers of the documentary, explains that he believes that Brown traded a small bag of marijuana for a bag of cigarillos and left them behind with the intention to come back later for them. However, the convenience store's lawyers continue to deny those claims and repeat once again that Brown stole the cigarillos from the convenience store.
        Some local officials believe that the footage had little significance to what had already been widely disputed.

Reflection on microtheme

The first thing I thought about this assignment was that it was too good to be true. A one page assignment, I knew there had to be a catch. The catch was the difficulty in writing this. Trying to condense your thoughts onto one page was not as easy as it sounded. Especially when it's about something you've experienced because you just want to write more. At first I had a bit of trouble choosing exactly what to write about but after a while of thinking I chose to write about smoking cigarettes. The one thing I think I'm still having a bit of trouble on is the conclusion because it has to be open ended and it's really hard not to include a clear and concise solution to your problematic question, but overall I feel pretty confident in my microtheme.

Revision of Microtheme

        It seems as if every time I try to study there is always something else I need to do that stops me. I have many responsibilities and I have tried constantly to manage my time more efficiently but I'm never successful. Why is managing time so difficult?
        One reason time management may be so difficult might be because many people tend to take unnecessary breaks. Many people like to relax and thus they take breaks which may lead to ineffective use of their time
        Another reason managing time is hard might be that there are a lot of distractions that take place in the household or workplace. Television and cellular devices may be some distractions for some people and it may cause them to waste time for other, more important things.
        One more reason time management is difficult may be because many people like to procrastinate. By pushing things to the end it may result in not having enough time to complete the task.

        If we could begin to think more seriously about why time management is so difficult, we may find ways to improve and use our time more efficiently rather than taking breaks or relaxing.

Revising this persons paper helped a lot. It helped me figure out what to include in my microtheme and what not to include. It helped me revise my draft more effectively since I had an idea on what I was looking for. Not only did it help my draft but it sharpened my skills of revising which haven't always been the greatest, so that was a benefit too.

Value of documentaries

        Documentaries have a lot of value in terms of rhetorical knowledge and skill. It gives the writer some perspective about something that has happened or is happening in the real world. They are very informational but they still manage to captivate viewers by how interesting they are. Rhetoric itself means the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques and that's exactly what documentaries do.  Documentaries help incorporate emotion into writing especially if you can relate or have a position on what the documentary is about. With other types of film they don't really provide that, especially fictional films since they are obviously not real. These types of films help writers learn to analyze the director of the documentary and the methods he uses to incorporate the effective or persuasive speaking. A documentary is a basis of which a writer can learn the different criteria of other rhetorical work.

Reflection v. Review

        After reading the review from Variety by Ben Kenigsburg it was evident that there were some differences between our opinions and the things that we focused on in the film. Kenigsburg begins by explaining how beautifully Heineman "paints a parallel portrait of vigilantes policing two different front of the drug war." He also mentions the two leaders of the groups and explains how they depict both sides of this ongoing war. He portrays Dr. Mireles as, "a black-hat-wearing cowboy type who introduces himself to a crowd as a general coordinator of the Autodefensas." He then goes by also introducing Tim Foley, "who leads Arizona Border Recon, listed as an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center." We both recognize how the actions of the Autodefensas and the Cartels aren't so different and how the Autodefensas are "succumbing to the forces it's designed to combat," since later on in the film it is discovered that some members of the group robbed innocent people. Kenigsburg also mentions the fear for the filmmakers safety which is something I never really touched upon in my reflection. However, he fails to mention the major part that the Mexican government played throughout the film. My reflection mainly focused on the tragedies that the Cartels were committing and the injustice of the Mexican government by disbanding the Autodefensas, while the professional review focused on the cinematography of the film and the danger of actually shooting the film.

Documentary Reflection

Cartel Land

Directed by Mathew Heinemann

        The documentary I watched was Cartel Land  which was released in 2015 and directed by Mathew Heinemann. The film revolved around the drug war between Mexico and the United States that has created violence inside and outside of Mexico. As a result of this chaos, Jose Mireles took it upon himself to form a rebel group known as the Autodefensas to revolt against the cruel and violent Cartels and to protect the innocent people who are just bystanders of this ongoing war that they are stuck in the middle of. However, just as the Autodefensas begin to gain a lot of their territory back they are disbanded by the government and end up becoming the people they hated the most, the Cartels. 

1.         Toward the beginning of the movie one scene that really stuck out was when they were having a funeral for the 15 people who were murdered as a result of this conflict with the Cartels. They were completely innocent but because their boss couldn't pay the debt he owed to the Knights Templar, one of the biggest cartels in Mexico, they decided to kill his workers as revenge for the unpaid debt. The workers were innocent people who were working on the field picking limes yet they were the ones who had to pay with their lives because of this never-ending violence. 

        It was aggravating to hear some of the stories of the people they killed. Among those fifteen, thirteen of them were from the same family and some of them were even children but those heartless men showed no mercy throughout the massacre. One of the family members said they grabbed the children and would slam them against rocks and then they threw them down a well. Hearing all of this was just heartbreaking.

2.        The thing that surprised me the most was that they ended up being part of the government and not even that they were corrupted by people who said they were part of the Autodefensas but later discovered to be part of the Cartels. They admitted to being corrupt and some members of the Knights Templar even said that they were funding the Autodefensas in order to get all those weapons and such. The government disbanded the Autodefensas easily and they didn't even try to negotiate with them or anything they just gave themselves up and completely disregarded all their motives and beliefs that had created the group.  

        Jose Manuel Mireles refused to become a part of the government but the other leaders of the Autodefensas gave in which inevitably lead to the Autodefensas becoming corrupt and becoming part of the two things they originally hated, the government and the Cartels.

3.        After watching this film there are a few questions I had that were left unanswered. I wanted to know what happened to the members of the Autodefensas who refused to work with the government. I was also curious about other rebel groups, I wonder if there are similar groups to the Autodefensas that also have the same dream of ending all the conflict and violence in Mexico due to the Cartels and if so where do they reside.

        Some feelings that stayed with me was concern for the people of Mexico. I've visited Mexico multiple times when I was younger and it was incredibly fun and enjoyable but with all this chaos and corruption my family and I have been unable to go because of the fear of how dangerous it is. I can't even imagine how the people who actually live there feel. They are in constant fear for their lives and have no kind of protection from the Cartels. They are unable to live happy and worry-free lives because of these people and it's sickening.

4.        The main problem throughout this film are the Cartels so I would try and research all or most of the Cartels in Mexico and in what parts of Mexico they reside. I would also try and find out if there are any rebel groups in Mexico and if so find out their motives and in what state they are trying to fight for. I would also look into the Mexican drug lord known as "El Chapo" since they recently extradited him to the United States and what effects that might've had on the Cartels.

        I would also research some of the groups in the U.S that are trying to stop the drug trafficking, such as the Arizona Border Recon that was shown in the film. And also research the violent activities that have been going on in Mexico that are Cartel-related.