Rhetoric and Civic Life | Morgan Malinich

16 hours have passed and you're still stuck on your flight. Your spouse is sound asleep by the window, while you have to listen to the guy next to you snore as loud as the PSU student section at a football game. Finally you hear the pilot announce that you will be landing in Beijing soon. After months of preparation, you and your spouse have made it. In the next couple hours you will have new identities: mom and dad. Adoption, more specifically international adoption, is a tough process for both parties. The soon-to-be parents must prepare a bedroom and clothing. The child must prepare for a new home, a new lifestyle. Being a parent is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world; not that I would know, but that's what I've heard. Picture of me and my mom when she first held me (PC:  Daphne Suzanne ) For my paradigm shift I want to research the changes made to international adoption; I want to focus primarily on adoption in China. When thinking of my topic, I starte...

Everyone knows about weird trends that occur in different cultures. These changes are called paradigm shifts. Paradigm shifts range from many different things: fashion, dance, even diets. One paradigm shift I can think of is cell phones. More specifically the size of cell phones. What makes a cell too small? Too big? At one point I can remember cell phones getting bigger and bigger eventually people looked like they were carrying mini tablets for cell phones. iPhones for example, looking an iPhone 4 to an iPhone 6 or even the 6+, the size increases tremendously. Now Apple has come out with the iPhone SE, which is about the same size as the old 5 version. Here is a short video of the evolution of cell phones. So what's the deal with all of the switching of phone size? The paradigm shift is an interesting one, because it is pretty recent in our history. With new technology there have been many more noticeable shifts seen through social media. For example, another paradigm...

What makes something average? More importantly what makes a speech average? Average is a word we use to describe something that is very basic. In school something that is average is usually graded in the C range. So how does one make that C into a B? How does one make B into an A? Connection probably the most important aspect of a speech. In order to connect with the audience the speaker must make eye contact with each person. This connection can go a long way with the success of the speech. No one wants to listen to a speech that they don't feel connected to. The audience must feel what the speaker is trying to convey through other physical means. A C speaker will utilize eye contact with moderation. Every once in while scanning the audience, but spending more time focused on their notes or on something other than their audience. This causes the audience to feel disconnectedness from the speaker. A B speaker will utilize eye contact much more often, referring to his, or her, ...

Kairos as read about and discussed in class is all about timing. Timing is crucial in many aspects of everyday life. As we learned in class, kairos is also very fleeting. Just like the personified god Kairos in Greek mythology, the right time to do anything can easily be gone. At least once in life everyone has thought about how they missed out because the let that window of time close. We have all also experienced being at the right place at the right time. This is a rhetorical concept we use in everyday life. Courtesy of  oatsy40 The idea of timing is very crucial in many aspects of our life. In college, students will most likely take out a loan. This loan will usually come with a grace period in which you don't have to start paying that loan back and interest isn't being added. That is the window students should start paying off their loan, because interest hasn't accumulated yet. Timing in this sense is a blessing. There are times when kairos isn'...

In America, we live in a predominantly capitalistic society. But in other parts of the world some of the most dedicated workers don't receive the same benefits as us. In American culture we are expected to be generous but by choice. In communistic cultures everyone is forced to be generous. For my artifact, I have found a Chinese propaganda poster. Photo credits are to shiq8.blog.163.com I have come up with two main points to discuss in my speech about this poster. This poster first appeals through pathos. It depicts what looks like a family coming home from working on a farm. The inscription at the bottom translates to "our good captain". Considering the time period this title is referring to Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong was the leader of Communist China at the time. In our culture the saying "you reap what you sow" is very common. This means that if we work hard we will benefit, but it is up to us to do this. In the Chinese government everyone works...

Everyone has a passion. My ideas for my passion blog come from two aspects of my life. I am adopted from China. I have always sparked an interest in Chinese culture. I am not only interested in Chinese culture, but also Korean and Japanese. I watch anime and listen to Korean pop music. Asian cultures in general have always been an interest of mine. Ideas I have for this passion blog include: Report on old, and current, trends in China, Japan, and Korea using videos from Off The Great Wall. A YouTube channel that vlogs and produces skits about different Asian cultures. Researching different folktales and analyzing elements of the story and how they relate to that particular culture. This is a picture of the Great Wall of China presented by Clint . The other type of blog I have could write is one about Walt Disney World. I grew up going on many family vacations down to Orlando, FL. My parent's call me a "Disney baby" seeing as before I was a year old I had...