Hello! I completed my final project regarding dysfunctional families and I attached the link below! Please take a look and I urge you to comment your thoughts and opinions on my site!
https://cmonahan00.wixsite.com/mysite-3
Hi everyone! This week’s blog post is going to cover some progress that I’ve made when it comes to my autoethnography! Just to catch up with anyone who does not know, I’m doing an autoethnography on growing up in dysfunctional families.
I have really been diving into research regarding dysfunctional families and I have found that it is really interesting hearing about all of the different common types of dysfunctional families. I think that all of the secondary research I have collected from articles and websites will really help give a foundation on what dysfunctional families are/can be. I also think it will help give an idea on how growing up in these types of environments can affect children. While the secondary research will give a good foundation to my project, I think that the primary research (aka, my own personal experiences) will help give a more in-depth example of what it is actually like. I think that the primary part will overall cover more about emotions and let people understand what it is really like growing up in these types of environments.
After conducting my interviews I thought it was super interesting seeing a lot of the overlap between experiences and stories. One of the girls I talked to explained how she learned to keep everything to herself because good or bad news her mom would react in a way that would make her feel bad. I had also experienced this, so it would cool to see how although we had different circumstances, the emotional response to a lot of the issues were the same. Between both interviews I conducted, I found that there were a lot of overlaps in hope we coped with the issues in our lives, as well as how it affected who we were today. The main differences were in just the experiences themselves, however, I think that it’s good that the experiences were different because it gives different perspectives on what growing up in dysfunctional families look like.
I am planning on conducting a survey but have yet to put one out because I want to make sure I’m asking all of the questions I want to in order to get the information I am looking for. I’m planning on asking people if they would consider their families dysfunctional as well as to define what a dysfunctional family is (in their opinion). From there I am also considering asking how it affects their ideals when it comes to having a family, and possibly some other questions but I haven’t decided as of yet.
I think the only concern I have for my project is how I am going to organize all of the information to make the site easy to navigate/understand. I also think I want to try to add different ways of conveying information (typed, pictures, videos, etc.) but I want to make sure nothing takes away from the point of the project (which is to inform the public on dysfunctional families). As of now I’m excited to get started piecing everything together, and if I feel like there are any holes in my project, I’m planning on doing more research if that problem arises.
With that, I leave you with a few questions: Are there any interesting questions I should consider adding to my survey? How do you feel about using different types of media on my website (such as videos, pictures, paragraphs, etc.)?
Hi everyone! This week I’m going to discuss what my final project is and some secondary research that I have found to help support my project.
For my final project, I have decided to discuss what it is like growing up with a dysfunctional family. I want to dive into my experiences, what caused me to realize that my family dynamic was not normal, and what I’ve done to better myself. I’m also going to discuss some other people’s experience in growing up in a troubled home and how they’ve dealt with it. I want this project to be very personal, with the main focus being personal experience, however, I do want to add some statistics and information I found on the internet to help support my project as well as give more insight on how growing up in these environments can affect children. I’m planning on creating a wix site, where I can easily create different tabs that contain different information. I want the personal part of this project to be separate from the research side of this project, so I am planning on just creating an information tab to basically ‘dump’ the research I gathered for people to read if they please.
One of my secondary research articles I found is from the journal of family medicine and disease prevention. This article has an amazing breakdown of a ton of useful information all about dysfunctional families. It breaks down a bunch of different types of dysfunctional families as well as common ways it affects the lives of children. From this site, I want to include some of the descriptions of the most common dysfunctional families (such as chronic conflict households, pathological households, the chaotic household, etc.). These descriptions I think will be useful to know and understand that dysfunctional households come in all shapes and sizes, and there isn’t just one thing that makes a household troubled.
Another article I found dove into how growing up in these environments can affect a child. I think it would be really interesting to include all of the common ways growing up in dysfunctional families can affect children. I want to include statistics such as percentages that become teen parents or go to college, as well as psychological effects, like lack of communication, or becoming excessively independent. There is such a broad spectrum of how growing up in these households can affect a person, and I think it’s important to include this information on my site to make it better known and understood. It took me personally a super long time to realize all of the traits I had that were due to living in a dysfunctional family and It would’ve been nice to have known sooner so that I could work on fixing these issues.
With that I wanted to leave a question: Is there anything that you think I should add to the information tab on my site?
Hi friends! I created a website that is basically about me and what makes up my identity. This blog post is going to be a reflection of this project, I hope you enjoy!
From my website, I hope that viewers can get a grasp on a few things that are important to me. The three topics I have on my blog are the main things that make me, me. Overall I hope that the audience can see what makes up who I am, and then can take a look inside themselves to see what things make up who they are. This sort of project was so much easier for me to make than a tradition essay style report. I get super anxious when I write essays because they are formal and I struggle when It comes to using proper grammar/forming formal sentences. I love projects that are more personal and can be what the creator makes of it. I liked having to look through all of my memories to find pictures that fit what I was going for. Although building the website took forever (I’m a perfectionist when it comes to websites and design) I think it was worth it because I ended with a project that I am really proud of.
Selecting pictures took a long time, but actually wasn’t that hard. The topics I was discussing on my website are topics that are a huge part of my life so I have a ton of pictures to go off of. The hard part was really just choosing pictures that signified big moments/contained stuff that meant a lot to me. I also wanted the pictures to look good next to each other, so I had to go in and edit a few so all of the pictures would compliment each other. When it came to the writing, I wanted to have a very personal sound when it came to the writing portions. I don’t love formal writing because I think that it is more interesting to read passages that feel like someone is actually talking to me rather than reading words from a page. I phrased my captions to reflect that. I wanted the site to be as personal as possible, as if I were presenting each portion of my website live. Additionally, I wanted a website that was clean and concise and had a cool vibe. I’m a very straight to the point person and I wanted my website to reflect that. I also like sleek looking websites so I chose a template that reflected that.
https://cmonahan00.wixsite.com/mysite-2
With that I hope you take a look at my website! I encourage you all to leave a comment on your thoughts of the site. I would also like to leave you with. a question: what makes you, you?
Today I’m writing a little about how my life has changed/been during this pandemic. Hope you enjoy 🙂
I think it is safe to say that the corona virus has greatly changed and affected almost everyone’s lives across the globe. It’s so weird to think that a week ago my life was perfectly normal. I was going to class, working my two jobs, hanging out with friends, I was on top of the world. That all came crashing down on March 11th, 2020. That was the day that my school declared we would be going online for at least 8 weeks. Soon after that my school sent emails pushing for students to move off campus. On March 16th, 2020, my hometown (the bay area) announced they were going to be doing a shelter-in-place for the next few weeks. Finally, on March 18th, 2020, my school sent an email kicking students out of on campus housing (only kicking out those who have somewhere else to go). In a whirlwind of stress and emotions, I packed up my apartment, packed up my car, said goodbye to my friends, and drove back to the bay area (all within a 24 hour period). For someone who hardly ever cries, let me tell you I’ve cried… A lot. It’s been a hard week.
I’m back home now, and trying my best to stay positive, however, sometimes it’s just hard. The shelter-in-place, as well as social distancing, and worries keep me from being able to see my friends in person. I went from having complete freedom, to being basically locked up in my room all day. And for someone who doesn’t have the best home life, it’s pretty hard to be home with both of my parents 24/7. In order to keep myself happy and sane during this pandemic, I have created a ‘Pandemic Bucket List’ of things I want to do whilst at home.
If you are having a hard time remaining positive during this crazy time, I recommend making lists of things you want to accomplish. Try something you’ve been meaning to try, connect with old friends via facetime (or zoom), dive into school and finally get the straight A’s you knew you could get. Don’t let this pandemic keep you from growing as a person.
With that I leave you some questions: Is there anything you think I should add to my list? What are your thoughts on everything going on? How are you keeping positive during this hard time?
a little video about time management in college, if you have any questions leave them in the comment section below 🙂
Hey everyone! Welcome back to this week’s blog post. This week I’m posting a scene that emotes a specific emotion so here goes nothing:
My mind races, my professor continues to lecture but my mind is moving a mile a minute, concentration on the lecture is impossible. I’m convincing myself that I will fail my classes, that I won’t have time to complete my prior engagements, that I will fail at being a good friend. My body begins to shake, my breaths become shallow and uneven, my palms are sweating. The lunch I had eaten earlier is not settling well. I rock back and forth in my chair, frozen in place, I need to get out of here but I don’t want to make a scene or disrupt class so I stay, locked into place, my mind slowly eating away
“Dude, I don’t know what to do” I text my friend
“ Is everything okay? Do you need anything? Can I call you?” She responds
“ I’m not okay. I can’t breathe. I don’t know what’s happening to me. I’m in class so I can’t talk but like I don’t know what to do. I have to get out of here.” I frantically type, taking a shaky, shallow breath
“ Stay where you are. I’m coming to campus, we can talk after your class. For now just focus on your breathing.” She says.
There I sit. Waiting, shaking, convinced that something is very, very wrong with me. The minutes tick by and finally class ends. I frantically back my bags and rush out of the classroom, managing to say goodbye to my friends as tears start rolling down my face. I find my friend and collapse. My body doesn’t feel like my own, I become taken over by emotion. I curl up in a ball, shaking and crying, not being able to shake all of the thoughts rolling around in my head. I’ve become unaware of the hustle and bustle of students around me. I’m becoming more and more convinced that I’m going to die. My breathes are uneven and shallow, my body is still shaking, and my fears are sprinting through my mind. I have never felt this way before.
After what feels like an eternity, I slowly am able to somehow calm down. My friend patiently waits and eases my worries in any way that she can. After what feels like an eternity I finally am able to compose myself, the shaking slows, and my breaths become normal. I remain locked in my curled up position for a few minutes longer, making sure that I don’t feel like I’m going to break down like that again before I try to stand up.
Finally I look up, I wipe the tears off my face and give my friend a hug. She holds me until I finally break off.
“You’re going to be okay. Just breath. Let’s break down what happened.”
With that I leave you with a question: What emotion do you think my scene was about? Comment your ideas down below!
Hi friends! Welcome to this week’s blog post!
This post is going to be some thoughts about rhetoric as well as a reflection of a rhetoric essay I wrote for my English class!
If I am being completely honest, me and english classes don’t see eye to eye very often. Don’t get me wrong, I love english and I think it is a great subject, however, I find that some common assignments done in english make me stressed and kind of annoyed. I am a STEM major, so the majority of the writings I do are lab reports and literature reviews. These essays are comprised of just the facts, there’s no need to add any stylistic language. These types of writings come super easy to me and cause me barely any stress at all. When it come english essays, I’m a mess. I’m a fairly good student and I like the work I produce to be higher quality, so when I’m faced with an entire essay on rhetoric I break down. I find it incredibly difficult to phrase sentences correctly, ensure my grammar is correct, and not fall off topic in the middle of my essay. The rhetorical analysis essay I wrote for my english class was a big example of this. I chose a Ted Talk by Taika Waititi called “Why Humor is the Key to Creativity” and although I loved the speech, it wasn’t the easiest speech to write a rhetorical analysis essay on. I was so lost and stressed about writing this essay that I ended up giving up after composing my first paragraph. Luckily I got some help and guidance and was able to write an essay I was proud of, but for a few days I was completely lost.
I think part of the reason why I get stressed is because when I picture myself writing an essay or speech I dont think ‘oh yea, I’m going to say this because it will inflict an emotional response to my audience so they will like me better’ so when I read other people’s pieces I can’t pinpoint a bunch of rhetorical tools they used because I have that mindset. I need to get over this mindset because even if I’m not actively thinking about rhetorical tools to use in my papers and speeches, I still use them due to habit. I think that the rhetorical analysis unit in my english class was really helpful in enlightening me in that rhetorical tools are used in almost everything. I’m hoping, looking forward, that I put more energy in learning more rhetorical tools in order to make my writing better as well as make writing rhetorical essays less stressful. I always want to learn more tips and tricks on how to write essays so when I am faced with a similar situation, I don’t become overwhelmed.
With that I leave you with a few questions: Do you get stressed out writing essays? Do you actively think about the rhetorical tools you want to use in your essay to make your essay more effective?
Hey friends! Welcome back to my blog 🙂
Today I wanted to chat about my expectations of college that I had when I was in high school. I’m also going to touch on a conversation I had with a current high schooler, and her concern on choosing a major.
In all honesty, when I was in high school, I had zero concerns about college. I wasn’t scared about getting in, I wasn’t scared about going, I wasn’t even concerned about how I would pay for it. I was confident that everything would work out in my favor. My parents motivated me to get good grades, however, they didn’t encourage me to maintain a 4.0 average, and I honestly wish they did. I wish that I had motivated myself to do the very best I could do in order to expand my options when it came to applying to colleges. I also wish that I had a rough idea early on in high school (and by early on I mean freshman year) of where I wanted to apply (like UC’s, instate, out of state, etc.) so I could know exactly what would increase my chances of getting in.
The only real concern I had was if I was going to find friends in college. I think this is a concern that most high school students have when they are thinking about attending a university. I have an older sister who is one grade above me, so when I was a senior in high school, she started her freshman year in college. I watched her experience college for the first time and honestly, it wasn’t great. Her classes were difficult and she struggled a lot with making friends. She still struggles with making a solid group of friends. Seeing this made me nervous about going to college and just being alone while I was there. Instead of letting these thoughts take over my life, I used them to motivate me to put myself out there. When I got to college I put a lot of effort into meeting new people and finding a solid group of friends and it worked. Motivating myself to do so made it so easy to talk to new people and form new friendships.
After chatting with some high school students, I found that there were two main concerns when thinking about college: how to pick a major and how to pay for college. I am lucky to have known that I wanted to be a biochemistry major since sophomore year of high school, however, I know that’s not the case for everyone. To that concern I say this: picking a major is difficult, but don’t stress, so many people go to college thinking they want to do one thing, and then they change their mind and that is completely okay. You don’t have to have everything figured out before you go to college, it is super easy to switch majors if need be.
With that I leave you with some questions: what are/were your concerns going into college? Is there anything you wish you knew about college going into it?
Hello! Welcome back to my blog!
Today’s blog post is discussing Heidi Huntington’s article, “Subversive Memes: Internet Memes as a Form of Rhetoric”, specifically her claim that “Memes are more than internet humor; research shows them to function by appropriation and resistance to dominant media messages.” This article basically went over how memes can be “decoded” to text using knowledge of the culture it originated in. decoding memes can take a multitude of techniques such as semiotic, discursive, and visual rhetoric approaches.
To be completely honest, I believe that a basic, everyday meme’s main purpose is to be nothing more than just internet humor. I have taken my part in making my own memes and I didn’t think much of anything except if it was going to make my friends laugh. While I do think that a memes main purpose and to be used a dumb humor to distract people from everyday life, I know that memes can be used for more than just humor purposes. I think that depending on who is making the memes, and who their audience is, they can tweak and add details to it to make it say more than just a funny laugh. The only problem with this is that tweaking a meme that is already composed of layers of inside jokes to express a certain idea can become messy. It is hard to find the perfect balance of humor (the original and main use of memes) with purpose without becoming confusing or straying from its original intent (of being both funny and expressing an idea).
I choose the meme above because I think that it does a fairly good job with integrating an idea into funny visual rhetoric. From first glance I can see the intent to humor the audience (which is most probably for United States citizens), the picture chosen is funny and is well known due to it being from a fairly popular tv show. The good thing about this photo is that although knowing the context of where this picture is taken, it is not necessary to know that it is from The Office in order to think that it is funny. The second detail I notice is that it puts an idea (such as the government not possibly not being that organized or not being well thought out perhaps) and phrases it in a funny way. It puts the idea that the structure of the United States government is a little funny/crazy when thinking about it (having three groups of people decide laws could seem disorganized). Overall, I think memes can be effective in translating messages that are not just to get a laugh from the audience. Complex ideas may be hard to express through this type of media, however, if an author works hard on blending the two ideals (humor and expression of ideas), they can create a meme that can cause an audience to really think about an issue while having a good laugh.
With that I want to leave you with a few questions! Do you think that all memes have a different purpose than just internet humor? Do you think that using memes as a platform to express ideas is effective?
Caroline Survives and Thrives 