Design Principles

My writing partner Amanda and I came up with some design principles that we thought would make for a good interview. We thought some good interviews to follow were the interviews done by Mike Wallace because they followed our design principles.

"The Conversation Principle"
One of them would be a "non script sounding" conversation. When watching good examples of interviews we noticed that the interview didn't sound like just a question and answer session. The interviewee gave fairly long in depth answer and provided substantial evidence for their answer more like a conversation. Also, what made the interview sound "non script like" was how the interviewer would ask clarifying questions, if necessary, based off the answer the interviewee gave. There was no fear of improvising questions.

"WALLACE: Dali, first of all let me ask you this, you're a remarkable painter and you've dedicated your life to art, in view of this, why do you behave the way that you do? For instance, you have been known to drive in a car filled to the roof with cauliflowers. You lectured, as I mentioned, once with your head enclosed in a diving helmet and you almost suffocated. You issue bizarre statements about your love for rhinoceros horns and so on. You're a dedicated artist, why do you or why must you do these things?

DALI: Because for this kind of eccentricities correspond with more important and the more tragical part of my life.

WALLACE: The more important and the more tragical part. I don't understand.

DALI: The more philosophical.

WALLACE: Well, what is philosophical about driving in a car full of cauliflowers or lecturing inside a diving helmet?

DALI: Because discover and make one tremendous speech, a most scientific in the Sorbonne in Paris... of what my discovering of the logarithmic curve of cauliflower.

WALLACE: The what?

DALI: logarithmic curve of cauliflower.

WALLACE : Oh yes, the "logarithmic curve"... yes...

DALI: And if in time the logarithmic curve in the horns of rhinoceros -- in this time discover, this is a symbol of chastity, one of the most powerful symbols of modern times."

This is part of an interview Mike Wallace had with Salvador Dali. He asked why it was that he did such strange things and when he didn't understand he asked clarifying questions. This made it sound more like a conversation more then an interview which we thought was an aspect that made the interview good.

"The Prior Knowledge Principle" Another design principle we though makes for a good interview is that the interviewer has prior knowledge of the interviewee. In an interview we watched conducted by Mike Wallace he asked his interviewee Aldous Huxley about a previous essay he wrote. We liked the fact that he had a quote pulled out of that book and used it as evidence to ask a question, having obviously done his background research. We thought it made the interview more professional because Mike came across as very prepared for the interview. The interviewee may also elaborate and give you information that is in depth if they think you

"WALLACE: You write in Enemies of Freedom, you write specifically about the United States. You say this, writing about American political campaigns you say, "All that is needed is money and a candidate who can be coached to look sincere; political principles and plans for specific action have come to lose most of their importance. The personality of the candidate, the way he is projected by the advertising experts, are the things that really matter."

HUXLEY: Well, this is the... during the last campaign, there was a great deal of this kind of statement by the advertising managers of the campaign parties. This idea that the candidates had to be merchandised as though they were so-called two-faced and that you had to depend entirely on the personality.

I mean, personality is important, but there are certainly people with an extremely amiable personality, particularly on TV, who might not necessarily be very good in political... positions of political trust."

"The Connection Principle" We noticed in the Mike Wallace interviews we watched that the interviewer and the interviewee have some sort of connection. It seems that they have spoken before or were not complete strangers. We feel, from experience, there is a much different vibe you get when you do or see an interview that is between two people who have just met for the first time, a more awkward feeling. In the interview we watched with Margret Sanger it states in the beginning that the interview was in no way rehearsed but we felt that while watching the interview it was very smooth and more like a conversation which made it pleasurable to watch and easy to stay focused while watching.


"WALLACE: Do you feel that Birth Control is essential to keep millions of people across the world from starving?

SANGER: Well, I think that Birth Control--if you keep the population more or less static until you pick up your resources, certainly you'll-- keep--prevent their starving.

WALLACE: Well, what's more important -- Birth Control or picking up the resources?

SANGER: Well, picking up the resources there's just a limit to that too. There's just so much -- take Japan -- and she cannot feed they've had the best experts come there when MacArthur was there and the best experts would say that they have twenty million more people than they can feed; she's got to be fed outside in some -- in some way. She's got to have that kind of help if she's going to keep from fighting."

Watergate 2.0

The Nixon administration’s array of illegal activities known as Watergate gave the next president Gerald Ford the difficult decision of prosecuting America’s president and his administration; similarly Barrack Obama is being faced with the same predicament as the Bush administration leaves a slough of illegal activity as they leave office. As Gerald Ford prosecuted the cabinet with the exception of Nixon, it is only fitting that Barrack Obama do the same.


On November 17, 1973 President Richard Nixon addressed the country in his final televised event and became the first president to resign form office. This was all in the wake of the Watergate scandal where three men were caught breaking into the Democratic Party headquarters in order to sabotage it. The FBI linked the men to President Nixon exposing a vast amount of illegal activities all over the world. Nixon maintained his innocence, rejected accusations of wrong doing and vowed to stay in office as his approval ratings sharply fell. He insisted that though he had made mistakes he had no prior knowledge of the burglary or cover-up until early 1973. That November he addressed the country and so famously said;

“People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got.”

President Gerald Ford was sworn in immediately after Nixon resigned and was faced with the decision of weather or not to prosecute Nixon and his administration for there crimes. Though the decision was very unpopular Gerald ford decided not to prosecute Nixon in light of all of his wrong doings because he thought that the American people would lose faith in their government, causing the nation to divide further. The rest of Nixon’s administration was fair game for head Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski. Many people in Nixon’s administration were prosecuted for their crimes involving the Watergate cover-up.

Barrack Obama the new predecessor to the bush administration is very much following in a modern day version of Gerald Ford’s shoes as the Bush administration leaves behind many counts of illegal activity over the course of his eight year presidency. These crimes include engaging in the Iraq war, torture at Guantanimo bay, and the controversy the “Patriot Act” which legalized wire tapping. Barrack Obama has stated that he does not want to prosecute George bush or his administration for their crimes because he wasn’t the country to progress instead of being stuck up on the past. He also does not want the country to lose faith in their government, sharing the same view as Gerald Ford. Other politicians like Nancy Pelosi disagree with Obama’s decision and think that criminal activity should be prosecuted no matter what.

I believe that Barrack Obama should as the very least prosecute President Bush’s cabinet following the example of Gerald Ford’s decision. I think that the decision to not prosecute the administration in order to keep the country from dividing, may have the opposite effect making barrack Obama appear to be protecting the Bush administration. Considering George bush’s incredibly low approval rating this may be a mistake for Barrack Obama. Plus Prosecuting these individuals for their crimes could take the bitter taste out of America’s mouth.

Artist's Statement Outline
My quote: "After the fear and terror of what I'd done had left, which took about a month or two, I started it all over again. From then on it was a craving, a hunger, I don't know how to describe it, a compulsion, and I just kept doing it, doing it and doing it, whenever the opportunity presented itself." Jeffrey Dahmer
Connecting to: The artwork of Alex Pardee (http://www.eyesuckink.com/)
Thesis: The artwork of Alex Pardee captures the twisted nature of Jeffery's Dahmer's horrific actions through his use of similar statements, dismemberment, and animal skulls in his artwork.
Body Paragraphs:

* Intro: Thesis statement, introductory sentence.
Body:
* Topic Sentence: FIX THIS to fit with the first of the three connections stated in your thesis statement above.
* Evidence: Jeff Dahmer's childhood obsession with necrophilia (http://www.karisable.com/skazdahmer.htm)
* Analysis: The animal skulls painted by Alex Pardee paired with he quote taken from an interview with Jeffrey Dahmer are an allusion of his sexual experiences with dead animals.
* Transition:
* Topic Sentence: ...

Internship

1. What do you hope to learn or discover about the "adult" world of work while you are at your internship?

I think that it will be very interesting to see how in the "adult" world do the various team working and communication skills are applied, and whether or not I am being adequately prepared for a real workplace. I think I will learn the most from immersion because this will give me the complete experience of going to work from nine to five, hopefully i will learn that I can handle the possible stress of this routine.

2. What do you hope to learn or discover about yourself and your identity while you are at your internship this semester?

This experience will be a true test of my motivation it will show me a lot about what kind of environment wall (hopefully) work for me and which will not. keeping myself interested and motivated is very important and i in time will find out how my weakness hold up in a real world application. Since I chose my own internship in a field that I am currently interested in perusing for a career i will soon find out if this particular job is something that I could consider and if the feild is even right for me. There is a huge opportunity for self learning in a few weeks.

3. What goals do you have for yourself for your internship experience?

* I would like to take what I learned in my internship and incorporate it to my future life when I actually am working.
* I want to enjoy my internship as much as possible while reaching success in any field I am given.
* I want to stay consistent through out the whole time at my internship so that I won't fall behind on my work.

Turkey Day

This year i am deffinantly thankful for the dynamic of our entire 11th grade enviroment it seems that every single peson coexists and acctually has matured to a level of respect for one another. The community as a whole it flourishing.

its pretty cool.

Honors Blog

H2o Project

H2o Schedule:

The question I have landed on for my H2o project is "What are the effects on humans from being exposed to the amounts of bacteria in our water, and what legal obligations do our government have to protect us form these illnesses?"

The next two weeks of my school career will look something like this:
Nov. 7- research of similar examples of final product. (internet)
Nov. 8- Begin spreadsheet of data collected for biology to support artist statement.
Nov. 9- Examine electron microscope pictures of E-coil bacteria for painting.
Nov. 10/11- Buy art supplies needed for product.
Nov. 12/13/14- Prepare 4 canvases for painting (writers block?)
Nov. 15/16/17- Sketch final E-coli bacteria art thaaang/ Rough draft of artist statement.
Nov. 18/19/20/21/22- paint and continue to revise artist statement

THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!

Dec. 1/2- Final critiques of artist statement
Dec. 3/4- Setup and display artwork for exibition, print and display artist statement.
Dec. 5- Eat In-n-out in class all day.

Resources:
4 canvases
acrylic paint/ brushes
aresol based paints
8.5x11 picture frame

(in addition i will need to setup an interview and question with a lawyer individual)