Reading v Multimodal

This reading will be extremely helpful for us in the coming weeks with working on our projects.  It gives a general idea that simple formatting of images and research can help the project lean towards specific audiences or to make the audience listening feels a certain way.

It talks about the structure of a page.  How its important that it attracts the reader’s eye and has it led through the page in the way the author wishes it to; it doesn't have to just be restricted to reading from left to right.  Instead the author could have it set up that the audiences eye follows from top to bottom as they go from left to right.

In terms of integrating images, they stressed that the pictures should pertain to the text it's near, possibly with a caption.  This allows the reader to have a reference point in the project where they can have an image of what the author is speaking about.

The reading also makes a point that words can be images too.  If one bolds, underlines, or italicize specific words or phrases in a page; such as if one took the phrase "I didn't say I took her pencil" and you stressed each word to make seven different sentences you can have seven different angles of the sentence.  If you stress "I" it makes the sentence sound like the person saying it is hiding the actual culprit of the pencil stealing.  Or if you stress "pencil" is makes the sentence sound like the person saying it is guilty of stealing something of "hers" but it isn't specific as to what.

Next, the reading looks at the use of parodies.  It allows the author to use something popular or well known in today's culture and relate it to their topic.  In doing this the readers are able to relate more to the image, video, or writing.  Such as the example in the book used an op-ad for the Alcohol Anonymous groups in that they shaped the circle of chairs into the outline of a vodka bottle, specifically parodying Absolute Vodka ads.  It's using this to attract the eyes of a possible addict, maybe as they're reading a magazine they see this ad and instantly relate it to the Absolute Vodka ads a look further.

The book then talks about the use of web pages and making them look differently based on the subject of the page.  It's pointless to have the page filled with pictures of cars and cars logos if the actual website is discussing a television show about animal.

And final there's the writing of the subject.  It gives us a good outline for where to start, such as finding an argument, an audience, and a purpose.

With these thoughts in mind it will make it a lot easier for us to figure out where to use images, how to use text, and how to design certain pages based on what we are using for our subject.

Annotated Bibliography

Armstrong, Thomas. ADD/ADHD Alternatives in the Classroom. Alexandra: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1999. Print.

This book looks at what the majority of people that assume incorrectly about children with ADD and ADHD.  It looks at all of the alternatives that people could look at the “description” of what ADD and ADHD.  It does this from multiple perspectives such as the historical and sociocultural.  Finally the book describes how one could possibly empower rather than control children with ADD and ADHD.

Block, Stan L. ATTENTION-DEFICIT DISORDER: A Paradigm for Psychotropic Medication Intervention in Pediatrics. Science Direct. SciVerse. May 23, 2005. Web. Sept 23, 2011. <http://www.sciencedirect.com.libproxy.clemson.edu/science/article/pii/S0031395505700626>.

The article touches on the medication used for ADD and AD/HD.  It begins with the most general form of medication as a simple stimulant.  Then it brings up less known medications such as non-stimulants, antidepressants, and/or high blood pressure medication.  It includes that these medications are no cure for the disorder, nor do they have the same affect on every participant.

Brown, Thomas E. "A New Approach to Attention Deficit Disorder." Educational Leadership 64.5 (2007): 22-27. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Oct. 2011.

The article brings up the psychological aspects of attention deficit disorder.  Through research the article states that most of the symptoms of ADD result from not having the part of their brain that deals with the cognitive management systems.  He then explains that this is where executive functions are either not fully grown or did not correctly. He then continues on to explain where having ADD becomes a problem in the real world and how one could go about adjusting to it.

Cherkes-Julkowski, Miriam, Sharp, Susan, Stolzenberg, Jonathan. Rethinking Attention Deficit Disorders. Cambridge: Brookline Books, 1997. Print.

It looks specifically at the “attention” in attention-deficit disorder.  The book considers ADD as a system and looks at how it works in terms of a child’s mind.  It works through what’s the problem with students that have ADD and their level of attention.  The authors look specifically at the human’s attention level in general in order to compare it to one with ADD.

Greenbaum, Judith, Markel, Geraldine. Helping Adolescents with ADHD & Learning Disabilities. Paramus: The Center for Applied Research in Education, 2001. Print.

This is another book dealing with different strategies for teaching children with AD/HD and Learning Disabilities.  The authors said they specifically wrote this to help teachers.  It provides insights on how to keep the students focused.  They work with both the learning environments and age of the student.  Then they work on different skills such as homework-completion, reading and writing, and simple self-management.

Henderson, Shirley. "ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER: The FACTS and The MYTHS." Ebony 61.9 (2006): 150. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 17 Oct. 2011.

This cite gives the rough definition of attention deficit disorder as "the inability to focus or to pay attention."  It then brings up the possible errors with diagnosing a child nowadays because they aren't factoring certain variables such as nutrition and sleep which can both affect the child's concentration.  Then is speaks about the issues with teachers dealing with students with ADD or AD/HD and how they "teach in the middle." This is fine for an average student but a child with ADD or AD/HD is too far from the average that it is difficult for the teacher to change their teaching style to accommodate the child.

Intemann, Susan. Personal Interview.  Oct. 18, 2011.

Susan is a Licensed Professional Counselor that holds a masters degree from NSCU in Health Behaviors/Health Education that works with people from young children to adults with ADD or LD.  In the interview she explained her experience with dealing with clients that have ADD.  She explained different ways that allow her clients to learn how to deal with ADD.  Most of what she showed was computer programs and books to show small examples of how she helps her clients work with their ADD.

Lerner, Janet W., Lowenthal, Barbara, Lerner, Sue R. Attention Deficit Disorder: Assessment and Teaching. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1995. Print.

This book touches on certain aspects of what ADD and AD/HD is.  It is trying to bring attention to parents and teachers about how to work with children that have an attention-deficit disorder.  They show different solutions to teaching children in ways that they can learn at the same pace as students without disorders.  It then does bring in medication involved to help children focus as well as simply neurobiology of the child.

Matas, Manuel. Approach to attention deficit disorder in adults. PubMed. The College of Family Physicians of Canada. Aug 10, 2006. Web. Sept. 23, 2011. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1781512/?tool=pmcentrez>.

This article addresses people with ADD that are now adults.  This is interesting because the majority of children with ADD or AD/HD grow out of the disorder before they're adults.  It then goes into more detail as to how the disorder can be hereditary as well as vary between genders.  He comes to the conclusion that although it is rare for adults to still have symptoms of ADD it is important to treat them so that they're life is much more smooth.

Rooney, Karen J. "Teaching students with attention disorders." Intervention in School & Clinic 30.4 (1995): 221. MasterFILE Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.

This cite talks about different learning and teaching strategies for students with ADD and ADHD.  They talk about how to create learning plans as well as behavioral and academic interventions.  The author explains some of the behavioral interventions to be self-rewards or demonstrations.  Several of the academic interventions are how to help with test-taking and textbook reading.

Rubin, Dana. "ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER: After the diagnosis." The Exceptional Parent Feb. 2001: 44. Academic OneFile. Web. 17 Oct. 2011.

This article gives a much more medical analysis of what ADD is.  It makes use of tables to show the different results of people with and without ADD or AD/HD.  It looks at how people dealt with their diagnosis of having ADD.  Using that the author then explains that the main reason there is such thing as ADD and AD/HD is that there is an issue with their cognitive processing which would allow them to remain more focused on what they wanted to focus on.

Quinn, Patricia O. ADD and the College Student: A Guide for High School and College Students with Attention Deficit Disorder. Washington: Magination Press, 2001. Print.

This book, obviously, looks at students in college that have ADD.  It looks at the transition from high school to college, helping the student learn about what there ADD is.  It explains the progression from living with their parents to living independently.  And finally it gives ways for the student and parents to help treat ADD white making it more understandable.

Thesis, Sources, and Issues...oh my

My topic is about the misunderstandings of attention-deficit disorder.  Considering that I have a mild case of this disorder I have decided I wanted to know more about how and why I think the way I do.  Most of the research I have already found is about children with the condition and having to deal with it in the school environment.  But being a college student, I’m nearing my adult life of living in the real world with a real job in which is a completely different environment than the educational system to have ADD.  So, from that I’ve been able to narrow down my thesis to: Attention-deficit disorder is a misunderstood condition, one that many scientists have narrowed down the cause to, used that information to help teachers know how to better structure their class for their ADD students, and then to help those students when they’ve grown up into adults –and have yet to out grow out of the symptoms– how to adjust to society.

            The majority of my sources have come from journal articles of scientists, doctors, and nurses.  Some discuss the medical prescriptions and the medical definition of ADD, while others examine the disorder in terms of the people affected.  In terms of finding more sources I believe I’ve found a good amount of information for what I want to fill my paper with, but if I was to look for anymore it would be about parents dealing with their children, whether it’s that they get frustrated, don’t have the money for the medication, or don’t understand how to help their child.

            Most of the problems I’ve run into at the moment are finding sources that touch on ADD.  When I was looking for some, the majority of them simply were for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, which although I will touch on because it’s more popular than ADD I’m trying to keep my focus on just ADD.  Another issue with my research is that since most of the sources were written by scientists and doctors and so they use a lot of medical jargon, so I would have to not only find information on ADD but also find information on what the doctors and scientists are talking about when it comes down to specific medical properties such as what is the cognitive system.

Attention Deficit Disorder Cites

1. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=51fc3bf1-c4c0-4e92-9f8b-a169c2e3781d%40sessionmgr113&vid=2&hid=106

This cite gives the rough definition of attention deficit disorder as "the inability to focus or to pay attention."  It then brings up the possible errors with diagnosing a child nowadays because they aren't factoring certain variables such as nutrition and sleep which can both affect the child's concentration.  Then is speaks about the issues with teachers dealing with students with ADD or AD/HD and how they "teach in the middle" which is fine for an average student but a child with ADD or AD/HD is too far from the average that it is difficult for the teacher to change their teaching style to accommodate the child.

2. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=571a9969-f85c-416d-a9b8-2457ff83fc7e%40sessionmgr115&vid=2&hid=106

The article touches on the medication used for ADD and AD/HD.  It begins with the most general form of medication as a simple stimulant, but then brings up less known medications such as non-stimulants, antidepressants, and/or high blood pressure medication.  It includes that these medications are no cure for the disorder, nor do they have the same affect on every participant.

3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1781512/?tool=pmcentrez

This article addresses people with ADD that are now adults since the majority of children with ADD or AD/HD grow out of the disorder before they're adults.  It then goes into more detail as to how the disorder can be hereditary as well as vary between genders.  He comes to the conclusion that although it is rare for adults to still have symptoms of ADD it is important to treat them so that they're life is much more smooth.

4. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=56bc613f-067e-4cda-bf60-2dffc6ab36f9%40sessionmgr111&vid=1&hid=126&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=23996906

The article brings up the phycological aspects of attention deficit disorder.  Through research the article states that most of the symptoms of ADD result from not having the part of their brain that deals with the cognitive management systems or executive functions is either not fully grown or not "grown" correctly. He then continues on to explain where having ADD becomes a problem in the real world and how one could go about adjusting to it.

5. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2001.tb05780.x/full

This article gives a much more medical analysis of what ADD is.  It makes use of tables to show the different results of people with and without ADD or AD/HD.  Finally the author explains that the main reason there is such thing as ADD and AD/HD is that there is an issue with their cognitive processing which would allow them to remain more focused on what they wanted to focus on.

Research Topics

1.  Is technology modernizing in the wrong direction?  Have you ever sat there hoping to find something to watch on TV when you stumble across an iPad 2 ad.  You watch it, interested, eventually coming to the conclusion that you NEED this product.  A quick trip to you amazon account and the electronic is on its way to your front door.  When you finally receive the product and begin looking through how this product is better than...wait a minute, it plays music, goes onto the web, has fun mind-numbing applications.  Don't you already own a smaller version of this?  But isn't is also a phone?  The present world keeps trying to push forward and improve in technology, but there's a difference between beneficial technology and "gadgets."  And iPad is meant to be a combination of an iPhone and computer, yet it's more like an oversized iPod, but then there's the fuel dilemma.  What if the world used their resources less towards frivolous iPad and more towards discovering replacements for fuel.

2.  There has been a major increase in children being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).  Most of the reason is that the ability to test children for ADD has become more available to the public.  But even though more people are found to have it it's still misunderstood among the majority.  To generalize, ADD it when the person has a difficulty focusing, causing them to have difficulties test taking or working under pressure - in which happens most during school.  Unfortunately, this causes most affected - specifically students - to falter in class, not for their lack of studying, but more of their lack of inability to reach the knowledge to answer a question because, say, some student was tapping their pencil too loud throughout the test.  Why is ADD so misunderstood when the population with it is increasing?

My Decision

Thesis: Cigarettes were always described as the "image of cool" but this image takes it farther by bringing in the idea of becoming more attractive, giving the reader the idea that cigarettes are required not only to be cool but also to get women.

Pictures for my essay

Dominos didn't really think it through

OR

iTunes basic logo

OR

Flavored smoke?  Possibly sexist?