Evaluation of Rhetorical Situations

In the following post I will evaluate rhetorical situations in three different texts that are examples of acts of opinionated public speech by someone in the field of architecture.

Swayne, Steve. "The Parthenon Athens". 1978. Public Domain.

Why open architecture competitions are good for Architects, a counter argument

Author:
The author, Karen Clento, is a writer for the website archdaily. She writes exclusively about architecture and has more posts on archdaily than I am able to count. She has worked with the highly prestigious New York architecture firm Marvel Architects. 

Audience:
Because of the specific nature of the article and the public's little knowledge of "architecture competitions" this article is geared towards just the architecture community. The author is speaking towards the community and arguing in favor of competitions. She also uses terms like "we" referring to we, as architects. 

Context:
This text is presented in the form of a website article on a website that the general public wouldnt know about. The website is geared towards the architecture community. This post is a direct response from a blog post written by another author. This article is presented in a way that readers are expected to know the background of competition hiring in the architecture world. 

Why Open Architecture Competitions Are Bad for Architects?

Author:
The author, Derek Leavitt is a co-founder of Modative, a modern architecture firm/blog "about modern architecture, design, development + modative happenings". Derek is a USC graduate and architect. 

Audience:
Because of the specific nature of the blog and the public's little knowledge of competitions regarding architecture jobs, this blog is geared towards just the architecture community. (VERY similar to the above article).

Context:
 This article is more casual and uses more jargon than the above article, making it feel less credible. It is also posted on a blog, and it doesn't use any specific evidence to back up the argument.  Without evidence, the text reads like a angry rant, rather than a well put together argument. 

The Potentials and Pitfalls of Crowdsourced Architecture

Author:
The author, Aaron Betsky is a critic and author of more than a dozen books on architecture and design. Aaron is currently the dean at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture at Taliesin and Taliesin West. (for those who aren't familiar, Frank Lloyd Wright is one of the most admired american architects of all time). 

Audience:
Because this article was posted on architectmagazine.com, it is geared towards the architecture community as the general public doesn't have a lot of knowledge on specific architecture websites. However, this article is very similar in format to a QRG.
Context:
This article was published on architectmagazine.com, it is in article format. While this article does present an argument against crowdfunding in architecture, this article is presented as a QRG, It presents both an argument against and for architecture crowdfunding. Because this article presents ideas from both sides, it wont specifically work as well for this project assignment. 

Reflection:

After reading through Isabel and Jayni's blog posts, I have learned that I am on the right track with my evaluation of my rhetorical situations. I found that they too had cited some texts that were more like a QRG than an argument, so it is important for all of us to distinguish the difference and find a compelling enough argument. It was also interesting that Jayni used a table to organize her information, so her post was really easy to navigate. 

Developing a Research Question

In the following blog post I will attempt to ask some research questions that relate to my major, Architecture. Asking these research questions are important as they might lead me to some current and ongoing debates and arguments people in my field are talking about.

Raab, Emanuel. "Firmenzentrale Kaffe Partner- Corporate architecture" 28 March 2012. Public Domain. 

I will also include links to the articles that have inspired my research questions, as they will act as a reference for me so that I may be able to go back and re discover these sources.

1. What are the advantages (or disadvantages) to hiring architects through a design competition process?
Pro
Con

2. is 3D printing a reliable building material for large scale projects?
Source

3. Should architecture be allowed to be funded by crowdsourcing?
Source

If you couldn't already tell, most of architecture's debates revolve around materials, budget, and jobs. The field of architecture fluctuates greatly depending on the economy and is greatly affected by modern technological developments.

Reflection on Project 1

In the following blog post I will reflect on project 1, the QRG.

GSE843. "Adaptation of the Rolfe reflective model". 12 Sept. 2010. Public Domain. 

Writing my QRG the biggest challenge I faced was providing enough information in the WRG that readers would learn about my controversy but not over doing it so that it would be hard to read and/or boring. peer editing helped me deal with these challenges.

I was very successful with conveying the architect's side and fears/concerns about the controversy. This was because I did quality research. 

I found that being straightforward and simple with my writing style conveyed the information the best in my QRG. As for design choices, the pictures I showed had both the people in the controversy and the topic of the controversy (the stadium) so they provided more information for my readers. 

I don't think that the Rules For Writers advice for style of paragraphs was very helpful for my project. The novel advised to do a longer paragraph style packed with information. I didn't follow this advise as I thought it better fit the conventions of a QRG to do short, concise paragraphs. 

This writing process style for this project was similar to high school in that we did peer editing on a rough draft. It differed from my high school writing experience in that it was in the form of an online blog post and that it was spread out between many weeks and many many writing assignments to turn in beforehand. 

The skill of research and creating an annotated bibliography will be extremely useful in my other coursework. Architecture doesn't necessarily include a lot of research based writing assignments, however when I do have to write, using an annotated bibliography is a new skill that will be very helpful.

Reflection on the Reflection

I viewed posts from Alyssa and Mehruba's Blogs. I agreed with the fact that writing an entire project online and in blog format was a new experience I haven't really done before. I couldn't relate to Alyssa's reflection on how her topic was broad and hard to narrow down to a QRG, but I appreciate how she worked it out and created a good QRG. This process has helped me plan better as a writer and it seems that my peers feel similar to how I feel, too. 

FINAL QRG

This is the link to my Final QRG. Enjoy.

smcgee. "Confetti". 12 Aug. 2006. Public Domain. 

Clarity Part 2

In this blog post I am rediscovering certain topics from the Clarity section of Rules For Writers and applying the knowledge I have learned to my QRG rough draft.

normalityrelief. "Clarity". 5 March 2011. Public Domain.

Active Verbs:
Using active verbs in place of passive verbs strengthens the meaning of the verb and conveys a stronger sentence. In order to carry the meaning of a sentence in a way that is clear and concise I should strive to use active verbs. For example, say destroyed rather than was destroyed. 

Needed Words:
In order to convey sentence meaning more successfully, words shouldn't be left out or forgotten. Using descriptive adjectives for verbs help. When my rough draft was peer edited, my peers helped me add some more descriptive wording in order to convey what I was saying more clearly.

Emphasize Key Ideas:
I have learned that my emphasizing my point in the subject and verb of an independent clause, my sentences become easier to understand. Especially with the QRG style of writing, keeping simpler sentences (while still maintaining sentence variety) helps convey information in a more efficient manner for readers.

Appropriate Language:
In my QRG I chose to keep jargon and slang mostly out of my writing, similar to how Rules For Writers instructs readers to do. However, after reading RFW I have realized that it is directed towards the traditional college essay. I have read some QRGs from my piers that utilize jargon in a efficient way, which is appropriate given the conventions of a QRG. This section of Clarity should be taken lighter than the other sections.

After reviewing my own draft, I have learned I am very successful in emphasizing key ideas in my sentences. For example I wrote, "Even though the Tokyo olympics are still 5 long years away, Japan is erupting in controversy over their centerpiece stadium".
I have written a sentence that is very direct and easy to understand. 

However, because my QRG is very direct, I could use some variety in my choice of language to "spice it up" a little and make it more interesting to read. I started to do this a little in my sentence, "Zaha Hadid Architects, the firm responsible for the controversial London Aquatics Center for the 2012 Olympics, is facing another challenge as its proposed plans for Japan’s new national stadium are under fire."

By using "under fire" I am making my sentence more interesting than if I had just written "are controversial". 

Identifying Basic Grammar Patterns

I have identified basic grammar patterns in the longest paragraph from my QRG rough draft.

Jimmie. "Daily Paragraph Editing" 2 Aug, 2009. Public Domain.

I have learned that my own writing is very simple and direct in structure. I need to explore using conjunctions and imperative sentences more instead of just using straight forward declarative sentences in my writing. By using a variety of grammar patterns my writing will be more interesting to read.

Paragraph Analysis

Below I will reflect on the paragraph analysis done to my QRG rough draft. Paragraph analysis is an important step in the editing process as coherent paragraphs make a document easier to read and understand.

Silsor. "File:Pilcrow.svg". 30 Jan. 2006. Public Domain

Here is a link to my Copy for Paragraph Analysis document.

After reading and analyzing my paragraphs in my QRG rough draft, I have realized that most of them are pretty well done. However, nothing is perfect and some of my paragraphs can be improved. Mostly, I have stayed on topic throughout my paragraphs even though most of them are a short 2-4 sentences. I have a few paragraphs that have straggling sentences thrown in that don't focus on the main point. These sentences can be placed in another paragraph or can be pulled and developed into their own ideas in separate paragraphs. My organization/link of ideas coherently seems to be okay as of now.

Reflection on Project 1 Draft

I reviewed Jayni and Isabel's posts for the project 1 draft.

Below I will answer questions regarding my first draft, helping me determine whether my first draft is complete and what i need to do to make it better for my final turn in.

AJC ajcann.wordpress.com. "Peer Review". 23 May 2008. Public Domain. 

Audience:
My audience is a QRG audience, someone who has an idea of what my controversy is about but is still seeking more information on select specific details. However, my peers/teacher is my exact audience, so I need to recognize that my audience might not know anything at all about my controversy.

I'm expected to convey easy to read but detailed information about my controversy. Only one of my peers edited my controversy, however she did not mention any confusions or misunderstandings about the information that I presented.

QRGs are expected to have a large amount of detailed information that is presented in a way that is easy to read/navigate. I have presented hyperlinks and short descriptions of the sources and sides of the controversy that I mentioned, so it is just enough to educate my audience without "insulting their expertise"

In terms of language used, QRGs can have more of a laid-back language not far from normal jargon. However, due to my controversy not being well known to most of the general public, I chose to take a more professional side and not use jargon that would make me seem biased or too laid back.

I used a direct tone with my audience as I was trying to convey information that feels reliable and up to date. I believe I carried that tone throughout my entire document.

Context:
The formatting requirements for this document are short paragraphs, headers, a title, and sufficient use of photographs. I provided this in my document.

In regards to content, I was expected to provide information regarding both sides of my controversy, sources from either side and their voice on the topic, hyperlinks, and back story/more information on each sides beliefs/fears in order to educate my audience. This was achieved.

In addition to my own ideas and voice (which I didn't provide too much of, I didn't want my document to read as biased) I have utilized the conventions of a QRG that I learned in class and the analysis of credibility/fears and ideas of my sources in an appropriate way in my document.

Savannah, when editing my document, found a lot of grammatical errors that I will correct for my final draft.

Clarity, Part 1

After reading the "Clarity" section of Rules for Writers I have developed a better understanding (or clarity) about four different topics: balancing parallel ideas, shifts, variety, and exact words.

Files, Adam. "File:Clarity" 31 Oct. 2014. Public Domain.

Balancing Parallel Ideas

I learned the importance of using coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for, so, and yet) to link ideas of equal importance. Balancing parallel ideas correctly in an article such as a QRG can help readers understand more easily.

Shifts

It is more important to focus on eliminating distracting shifts in writing. By eliminating unnecessary shifts in my writing, my readers wont be distracted or confused by the ideas I present. I can eliminate unwanted shifts in my writing by making sure the point of view is consistent in person and number, and making verbs consistent in tense and mood.

Variety

When writing it is important to provide variety in sentence openings and sentence structures. I have learned that creating variety in my writing can be really easy as I just need move around adjectives and sentence types to create a more interesting sounding final product.

Exact Words

The most important aspect of word choice in writing is that a thesaurus should not be used to find more impressive or "flowery" words. Words should be chosen to exactly express the meaning I am trying to convey.

Reflection

After revising some of my classmates drafts, I learned that the topics I chose to review in this clarity post can be hard to find/correct in writing as they are small changes that make a big difference.  When revising Jayni's QRG, I found that using more specific word choice could help clarify what happened to the Monarch Butterflies in her post. She wrote, "This contamination resulted in the decrease of about half of the entire monarch population.". By changing "decrease" to something like "elimination" the whole meaning of the sentence changes and becomes more clear.

When revising Isabel's QRG,  I advised her to try to use coordinating conjunctions to clarify a parallel comparison between people that need to eat a gluten free diet and people that choose to eat a gluten free diet. this is her sentence that could be altered, "For the most part, it has been said that avoiding gluten is mostly unnecessary for people that do not need to but engaging in a gluten free diet while consuming the right foods and nutritional values could be beneficial."

Thoughts on Drafting

After writing a draft and posting it on my blog for my peers to see, I have learned a lot and have gotten more comfortable with my QRG. Below I have written a short analysis of my draft writing journey.

Reneman. "Icon 'Draft'" Feb 24, 2013. Public Domain.

The book Student's Guide really helped me draft a thesis statement for my information. Even though the book was geared towards a traditional college essay format, I felt like I could organize my information into a concise thought after reviewing the pages.

The problem with the guide in Student's Guide was that it was geared towards the traditional college essay. Although our QRG should contain all of the bulleted information provided in Student's Guide, the reading didn't provide advice on how to work with QRGs conventions such as drawing a reader in, short paragraphs, and separation of ideas into headlines. For example, writing paragraphs in PIE format may not be ideal as that leads to long, detailed, complex paragraphs that are not appealing to the type of reader WRGs try to attract.

Reflection:

After reading Morgan and Alyssa's blog posts I realized that we all took away different information from the Student's Guide guide. Morgan and I disagreed on the use of the PIE format, but after reading her analysis I have new insight as how it can be helpful to use to structure paragraphs. Alyssa and I agreed on how QRGs utilize shorter paragraphs in a concise yet informative format.

I need to work on/revise:
1. A better thesis statement/clearer and more inviting intro paragraph.
2. I didn't finish, I need to include the perspective on how the controversy can be handled better and why american readers would be interested in a controversy happening in Tokyo.
2. I need to work on who is more reasonable credible while also making sure I am not repeating too much information. I need to keep my paragraphs concise yet informative, and delve into more specifics about each sides credibility.

Draft of Quick Reference Guide

While writing my draft of the QRG unfortunately I ran out of time before the deadline.  I have completed the bulk of the article, leaving out some information at the end that I have written headlines for. Here is a link to my QRG, and lets all give a shoutout to first drafts because there will be further editing done to this one. 

Jessica's QRG first draft

Practicing Quoting

Knowing how to correctly introduce and cite quotes in writing is an important skill. Below I have written two paragraphs from either side of my controversy that contain quotes.

Blue represents my signal phrases, or introduction.

Purple represents the authority of the people/sources being quotes

Red is where I explained the context of the quote

Yellow is the ellipsis/brackets used

QRGs: the Genre

In order to successfully write a quick reference guide, it is important to research the genre and analyze the conventions and quirks. Below I have answered some questions about QRGs in order to better understand the genre I will be writing in.

Adams, Douglas. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" N.D. Public Domain. 

What are the conventions of this genre?
Quick reference guides have very similar conventions to blogging, however QRGs provide more information and normally quote from sources. QRGs utilize media and graphics to draw readers in, along with headings. Short paragraphs are used however the length of the articles themselves are long.

How are those conventions defined by the author's formatting and design choices?
The authors use photographs and graphics to draw readers in to their article.  Headings that separate the article into separate clusters of information make the article easier to read to find the information that you want. Short paragraphs are more appealing to read, and using pull quotes and colors (like in the e cig example) make the article likable and not too complex to navigate.

What does the purpose of these QRGs seem to be?
QRGs are designed to be easily scanned for the information a reader is interested in learning more about.  QRGs are very informative and try to give information from all sides of a certain controversy.

Who is the intended audience for these different QRGs?
QRGs assume their readers have a general idea about the information they are writing about however they provide more in depth answers to any questions readers might have. Each QRG caters to readers interested in the specific topic/controversy they are writing about while still remaining easy enough to read that someone who is not familiar with the topic can enjoy the article, too. From Bernie Sanders to internet bullying QRGs try to find a reader who is interested.

How do the QRGs use imagery or visuals? 
QRGs are designed to be easily navigable while portraying specific information about their topic. A popular saying is that pictures are worth a thousand words. Pictures draw readers into the article by exploring and portraying ethos or specific data. Once readers are drawn into the article, pictures further explain or prove the article's point. Sometimes videos are used, like in the Bernie Sanders article. It always comes back to educating readers.

Reflection:
After viewing QRG Blog posts from Jayni and Carter I learned that our class has a very good understanding of the conventions of a quick reference guide. Their posts talked about almost exactly what I mentioned, and Jayni did a good job of using the 5 examples we were given as examples in her own blog post.

Cluster of My Controversy

By clustering ideas writing a final paper becomes easier and more fluid.

Mhbrugman. "Hierarchial_clustering_diagram" 20 July, 2009. Public Domain. 

In order to organize my writing, I have created a cluster of my controversy. Creating my cluster, I organized it into three sections: Japan, Zaha Hadid Architects, and a neutral contender that kept reoccurring, Jeff Kingston. After separating the sides, I briefly listed their modes of public speech as well as their values/sides to the controversy.

Here is a link to my cluster.

Reflection:
After viewing two very similar Coggles from Savannah and Morgan I have learned that the visual representations of the writing ideas are extremely helpful in breaking down the large loads of information. Both of their Coggles included the original questions we were supposed to answer, which helps to keep on track as to why we are writing. As a visual learner however, I think any mode of organization that is a cluster is extremely helpful to organize our writing.

Annotated Bibliography in MLA Style

Learning how to do an annotated bibliography is an important skill for undergraduate life and beyond. Below I have written an annotated bibliography for six sources I used while researching my controversy. Here is the link to the annotated bibliography. I used MLA format.

White, John H. "LERONE BENNETT, WELL KNOWN BLACK WRITER WHO IS SENIOR EDITOR AT EBONY MAGAZINE, IN HIS OFFICE AT JOHNSON PUBLISHING COMPANY IN CHICAGO. THE FIRM ALSO PUBLISHES JET, BLACK WORLD, BLACK STARS AND EBONY JR. AS THE TOP BLACK OWNED BUSINESS IN CHICAGO, THE FIRM RECORDED 1972 SALES OF $23.1 MILLION. CHICAGO IS BELIEVED TO BE THE BLACK BUSINESS CAPITAL OF THE COUNTRY WITH 14 OF THE TOP 100 BLACK OWNED BUSINESSES COMPARED TO 13 FOR NEW YORK CITY."  1945. Public Domain.

Reflection:
After viewing Dylan's bibliography that was also in MLA format, it was comforting as ours were very similar and we both had similar lengths of summaries. I also visited Alyssa's bibliography in APA style. I really appreciate how APA style included the entire URL to the sources, so she didn't need to keep a separate list of all of her source URLs like I had to. It seems like MLA is one of the most simple bibliography formats, however they all seemed to take a lot of time as a lot of information is provided.

Ideology in My Controversy

After researching various sources from scholarly to social, I have developed a deeper understanding of the controversy surrounding Tokyo's 2020 olympic stadium project.

The Japanese government is responsible for ditching the stadium design of Zaha Hadid Architects. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced the cancellation and project director at Zaha Hadid Architects Jim Heverin has voiced the firm's disapproval of Japan's decision. Zaha Hadid Architects is responsible for many large scale architectural projects, and the Japanese government has a global influence with the power of the 2020 olympic games.

If the stadium remains scrapped from the olympic budget, Zaha Hadid Architects faces a major embarrassment and loss of revenue. The Japanese government benefits from changing the stadium plans as it was grossly over budget. However, the plan for the stadium was for it to be used when Japan hosts the Rugby World Cup in 2019 and due to the controversy a new stadium will not be built in time.

The stadium's estimated cost of over two billion US dollars was part of the reason why Japan wanted to scrap the project. The architecture firm wanted to build a stadium that would remain for more than 50 years in Japan. If Japan does choose a cheaper stadium option the firm claims it would be more dangerous and will not stand as long.

The Japanese government, while restrained by the olympic committee, holds the all of the power in this controversy. They get the final say on whether or not they will use Zaha Hadid Architect's plans. Both sides know a stadium needs to be built; Zaha Hadid Architects has expressed interest in further revising their plans for the stadium to make it more affordable. However, the Japanese people have had extensive coverage of this controversy and have made the design into a meme; the stadium may never be respected in the same way ever again.

Jankowski, Jessica "Screenshot" 9/5/2015

Jankowski, Jessica "Screenshot" 9/5/2015

Evaluation of Social Media Sources

Good social media sources are harder to find as most of them are more opinionated or off-topic. Below I have analyzed two sources from twitter relating to my controversy, the Tokyo 2020 olympic stadium.

Source 1:

Jankowski, Jessica. "Screenshot"  9/5/2015

Credibility:
Jim Slater is a health and safety advisor for construction, design, and management. Information about him is provided on his website.

Location:
Jim Slater is involved in the architecture and design industry however he is not directly related to the Tokyo stadium controversy.

Network:
Slater is followed by industry-related companies/people on his twitter account. Some examples are Design and Build, JAR Architecture, shineAsbestos, and Prestige Builds.

Content/Contextual Updates:
The numbers Slater provided are accurate in the estimated costs of the olympic stadium. His twitter account doesn't focus specifically on the Tokyo controversy however Slater tweets about a large number of other projects related to safety and architecture.

Jim Slater has had a twitter since December 2009. He is a reliable source.

Source 2:

Jankowski, Jessica. "Screenshot" 9/5/2015

Credibility:
Bree is involved/passionate about the architecture industry and has 9 articles published on the architecture website Archute.

Location:
Bree seems to not be directly involved in the Tokyo stadium controversy in any way.

Network:
Bree's twitter seems to be a mix of business and personal. She follows 1,407 people and is followed by 1,755.

Content/ Contextual Updates:
Bree joined twitter in March 2011. Her opinion "That's how greatness is made" is a personal opinion that cannot be proven in any way. This takes away from the credibility of her tweet. Overall she is a reliable source, but she is less reliable than source 1 Jim Slater.

Evaluation of Scholarly Sources

Scholarly sources are much harder to find than website articles; they provide a more sophisticated language and and academic credibility, making them more trustworthy sources. Below I have analyzed two scholarly sources related to my controversy post about the Japanese olympic stadium.

OAlexander. "Olympic Rings Without Rims" January 4, 2011. Public Domain 

Source 1:
The Mega-Event Syndrome: Why So Much Goes Wrong in Mega-Event Planning and What to Do About It. 

This article presents a takeaway along with an abstract. The author wants readers to be educated on the "Mega-Event Syndrome" and through the realization of the problem, implement radical policy changes to prevent problems in the future. Suggested changes include not building oversized urban developments for major events.

This article was published in the Journal of the American Planning Association online on May 11, 2015. Seventy Seven other academic journals are referenced, Taylor & Francis Online is specifically cited. Its intended audience is the general adult public, reform is the goal of this piece.

The author of this article is Martin Muller, a Swiss National Science Foundation Professor at the University of Zurich. It was found using Academic Search Complete.

Source 2:
1976 Montreal Olympics: Case Study of Project Management Failure

Using the 1976 Montreal Olympics as an example, this article educates readers about project management failures and how they contribute to blown budgets for large scale events. The intended audience is people in the large-scale event planning industry as well as the general adult public who enjoys the olympics, as reform is being preached and the statistics relate heavily to the specific Montreal Budget.

Published in the Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities in June 2013, it was written by Ashish Patel, Paul A. Bosela, and Norbery J. Delatte. References include other academic journals about structure failure and event planning. It was found using Academic Search Complete.

Evaluation of General Sources

Architecture controversy happens on a world stage. The newest event has spurred from the design of a stadium for the 2020 olympics in Japan. I have analyzed two sources that have reported on this controversy.

Source 1

URL: My first source is The Guardian, a "self-described center-left" newspaper from Britain with a .com address. The Guardian reports on topics from all over the world.

Author: Caroline Davies, a journalist exclusively for The Guardian with a twitter account used almost exclusively for The Guardian related opinion and topics.

Last Updated: July 28th, 2015. Nothing has changed regarding the information on the article in a couple of months,

Purpose: While this source seems to have written an informative article about the controversy in Japan, quotes were only taken from sources against Japan's decision to scrap the design for the stadium. Bias is present as readers are only given one side of the story.

Graphics:

Jankowski, Jessica. "Screenshot". 9/2/2015

Both a picture and a video were used in the article. This helped readers understand the stadium surrounding the controversy as a visual image speaks louder than a description.

Position on Subject: The Guardian wrote this article with bias against Japan. While the article contained sufficient use of links and quotes to other sources, Japan's side of the story was not mentioned nearly as equally.

Links: There are several links throughout the article that take readers to other Guardian articles along with the website of the architect
in question Zaha Hadid.

Source 2:

URL: My second source is a popular American news channel as it was the first 24 hour news channel in the United States: CNN. CNN has a .com URL, which is not indicative of reliability as .com sites have a variety of different backgrounds.

Authors: This source has two authors, Will Ripley and Tim Hume. Will Ripley is based out of CNN's Tokyo bureau and has won several awards regarding reporting including a Heartland Regional Emmy. Tim Hume is from CNN's Hong Kong bureau.

Last Updated: July 17th, 2015. The article is only a few months old.

Purpose: The purpose of this article from this source is to inform readers on the controversy happening in regards to the olympic stadium in Japan. The article has insight and quotes from both the architects and also the Japanese representatives.

Graphics: Along with a photo of the stadium, an investigative report in the form of a short video depicts author Will Ripley discussing the topic of the stadium in Japan. Footage from the Japanese Prime Minister is also included in the video.

Position on the Subject: CNN appears to have an unbiased article outlining the controversy in Japan as Japan has decided to scrap the plans for a new stadium for the 2020 Olympics. In the article there is a section dedicated to the "architects' criticism" giving both sides of the controversy a voice in the article.

Links: No links were used when writing the article from this source. This is perhaps CNN's attempt at keeping their readers on the information from their webpage and nowhere else. Not providing any links does discredit CNN's credibility as we cannot easily access another opinion.

My Major

In 5 years hopefully I will be graduating The University of Arizona with a Bachelor's of Architecture degree. Architecture is a very unique field of study as it has its own separate world of people with different ways of thinking. Below I will explain some of the details pertaining to my major and the world of architecture.

Palladio, Andrea. "I Quattro libri dell'Architecttura" 1570. Public Domain. 

Architecture students rigorously study and improve drawing and design techniques. Classes include studio time, lecture, and history-focused lecture. Architecture students try to consider the community/society and environment when designing and planning. It is also important to develop an individual design aesthetic to stand out from your classmates as everyone is learning the same techniques.

Registered architects can work in many careers other than just working in a firm. Jobs range from a set designer on broadway to construction managers, drafters, civil engineers, interior designers, and real estate agents. 

I was drawn to the field of architecture because I have an affinity for drawing and math. Weird combination, right? Well, it works for architecture as structure and line combine with thought and creativity. 

According to Architectural Digest's AD100 list of the best architects and designers worldwide, designers such as Christoff:fino Architecture, NH Design, and Vicente Wolf Associates Inc. are among the best of the best. These firms have presented innovative ideas to the world of architecture through projects around the world as well as projects for esteemed clients. 

Three of the top scholarly journals regarding the architecture field include the Journal of Building Performance Simulation, Research in Engineering Design, and Design Studies. All three journals were published in the United Kingdom.

Reflection:
After visiting Dylan's Blog I learned that we both share a passion for human nature and communicating artistry to the world (even though he is a theatre major and I am an architecture major). I also related to Isabel's Blog as we both have a long and demanding road ahead with complex and time consuming majors. I learned that even though I might be feeling stressed, I am not alone. Learning everyone's major is also very interesting for me because there is such a variety.