For my third essay, I decided to write about health care availability in America. The primary audience would be the U.S government who does not provide health benefits to their citizens or visitors and conservatives Americans. My audience’s primary characteristics would be conservatives Americans who have a strong belief in classical liberalism and think that universal healthcare in the country will only make the government stronger. I want my audience to understand how important it is to create a system that ensures medical service, regardless of social status. If we guarantee the right health care for all Americans, it will eventually decrease the high medical service cost in America. For the genre, I decided to use a visual genre. I am thinking about the possibility of using a political cartoon that would help me share a message through public figures to criticize the government’s actions. Also, I would like to introduce a meme where I can mock the government’s effort toward a worldwide crisis and how they “help” Americans in need during an economic crisis. For my rhetorical analysis, I have a lot to take to. For one part, I would like to use pathos to represent Americans in need of medical assistance during circumstances such as COVID-19, creating a helpless figure of people and the government not willing to help them. Besides, I think it would be interesting to add logos to my essay, such as a real data comparison between the health cares system in first-world countries and how the United States is the only industrialized country without universal health care.

For my third essay, I want to write about health care availability in America. I’m excited about this topic because I can finally express my thoughts without incorporating facts or data. For this assignment, I want to explore visual essays, such as political cartoons and memes, that might make my experience while writing more passional. I enjoy memes and political cartoons on social media that carried out a powerful message inside, but I’m a little bit worried about creating one for this assignment. I took inspiration for this topic, considering the entire COVID-19 pandemic and how it has affected low-income Americans who have been infected but could not receive medical attention due to the high cost of health insurance in America. My intended audience would be the U.S government, as it planned for them to open their eyes and see the suffering of the people who can’t afford health because of the high price of medical care in America. Due to the intended audience, a visual cartoon is an appropriate genre for this essay because it will help me share a message through public figures and criticize the government’s actions. My next visual genre would be a meme where I can mock the government’s effort toward a worldwide crisis and how they “help” Americans in need during an economic crisis. The meme would try to show how ironic it is that America is one of the world’s global potency is the country with the worst health care outcomes and the highest prices compared to other high-income countries.

How do social, political, and economic factors influence the conditions of American women in the workplace?

The United States had come a long way since The Equal Pay Act in 1963 when President John F. Kennedy signed the Fair Labor Standards Act, which abolishes wage disparities based on sex. Through my investigation, I have found good sources that have helped me understand this social issue more politically and economically. The First Source I read was “Equal Pay an Introductory Guide.” I thought this source was an excellent introduction to my essay because it helps me introduce relevant topics related to this social issue. This source touches diverse topics such as the government’s role on equal remuneration and the institutions and procedures to enforce the law. This first source was first published in 2013 by the International Labour Organization. In my next source, I decided to go with a source that carries this problem to the present and the challenge of equal pay in the labor market. This source is called “Women, Work, and Inequality.” and is a Scholarly source that carries many editors responsible for the publication of this book, such as the support of the library Congress Cataloging for publication data on women, work and inequality. My third scholarly source is title “Promoting Equity Gender-Neutral Job Evaluation For Equal Pay.” In this book published by the International Labour Organization, the author reflects on the causes of wage discrimination and the principles of pay equity. This source helped me better understand how the scope of the principle of pay equity works and its impact on an organization’s reputation. The source I discarded while looking in my research was “The Unions and the fight for inequality.” This book’s content gives me a lot of detail on feminist history, and I think that is why I discard this topic from the others. I didn’t want to make this essay too personal by talking about the idea of women as housewives and the long fight for feminism during the past years, reason enough to decided not to include this book. While an article I have been considering to include in my essay is a short video from Youtube about a topic that recently caught my attention, this video explains women’s soccer equal pay fight. The title of this video is “Why it’s impossible to give the USWNT equal pay.” This short clip shows the player’s prominence and willingness to change, expressing their frustration by seeing the huge compensation gap that receives the World Cup participants, a pool of 400$ million for a team of 32 men, while only 30$ million for a 24 women’s teams. I have been focusing more on my scholarly sources than my web sources; I have focused on the details about the past Instead of the present. For now, to the first draft, I would look up more recent sources that would help understand this issue, like how much during this pandemic time, the pay gap has been increasing. How much money do men that work from home compares to women that do the same? 

Bibliography:

Oelz, Martin, Shauna Olney, and Manuela Tomei. Equal Pay: An Introductory Guide. Geneva: International Labour Office, 2013. Print.

Chicha, Marie-Thérèse. Promoting Equity Gender-Neutral Job Evaluation for Equal Pay : a Step-by-Step Guide . Geneva: International Labour Office, 2008. Print.

Closing the Gap : Equal Pay for Women Workers : Hearing before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, United States Senate, One Hundred Tenth Congress, First Session, on Examining Closing the Gap Relating to Equal Pay for Women Workers, April 12, 2007. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2009. Print.

Gregory, Jeanne, Rosemary Sales, and Ariane Hegewisch. Women, Work and Inequality: The Challenge of Equal Pay in a Deregulated Labour Market. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Limited, 1999. Web.

” How do social, political, and economic factors influence the conditions of American women in the workplace?”

As the years go by, a social issue that has been a point of reference in many confrontations is discrimination, whether for religion, beliefs, appearance, race, gender, or anything else that makes a person feel inferior. In this case, I would focus on women’s discrimination in the workplace ambits and how it is influenced by other forces such as social norms, stereotypes, and culture. During WWI, the United States Employment Service published a list of “suitable work” for women to fulfill the country’s necessities during wartime. During the next few years, women continue doing men labor while they were at war but not receiving the same pay. In 1918 the National War Labor Board suggested that because women were doing the same job as men ordinally do, they should be allowed to receive equal pay, but after the war, the demand for equal pay loses steam. 

I don’t want people to think that I want to write my essay about this topic for the simple reason that I’m a woman disadvantaged in a world ruled by men. I want people to understand that I cared about this social issue, and I want a change. 

In the article “Relevance of Equal Pay Day In the Midst Of COVID-19” by Forbes Magazine, the author how our world changed drastically in the last few months, focusing on the relevance of equal pay for equal work [From Home] in this article, the author studies a recent survey made to 1,500+ U.S. Workers impacted by remote work. This survey highlights the pay gap that exists between full-time remote father and full-time remote mothers. Where men usually earn three times more likely to earn a higher salary than a woman. The world is living one of the worst crises, economically and socially. Parents make the best to educate their children, but living in a world where people support more than one gender because of social standards and stereotypes would not make the world better. Having a better understanding of what equal pay means admitting that they are wrong with the system we all are accustomed to seeing. But, doing nothing is giving your back to a chance of hope and expectation of a new future. 

Because I recently change my topic, I haven’t read a specific amount of sources that can help me, but I checked in the library. It seems that it is a pretty good material to work with. I hope that I’ll have time to go over during the weekend t and then outcomes with my specific sources for this assignment. 

The intended audience for my essay is young adults, males, and females. As the next generation, we have in our hands the direction to change the course of this country. It is time to change old stigmas and stereotypes that our ancestors created and start creating a whole new universe of understanding and equity. For this essay, I would use as my model essay an article called “The State Of Gender Pay Gap in 2020.” Because I think it fulfills and touches all the essay requirements, such as an in-depth analysis of data and sources. https://www.payscale.com/data/gender-pay-gap

Bibliography: 

https://time.com/3774661/equal-pay-history/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/hvmacarthur/2020/03/31/relevance-of-equal-pay-day-in-the-midst-of-covid-19/#2208adf8da0d

https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/the-current-state-of-equal-pay-laws.aspx

https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/09/1072722

For this essay, I have chosen to go a little bit far to learn more about social issues currently happening and affecting us, and I, for some reason, did not know a lot or anything about it. Here are two social topics I would like to write for my second essay.

1. To what extent does national security interfere with the personal liberties of the citizens?

Social media has always been a widespread alternative for young adults and teenagers to get in touch with relatives and people worldwide. However, recently there has been one that has taken over the world. TikTok has reached to top in the list of popularities, with more than 2 billion downloads. In the last few months, the world’s largest markets have begun to ban the app for stealing and surreptitiously transmits unauthorized data to third parties. India banned the use of TikTok in June of 2020, while the US still face the hard choice to banned or not, the truth is that people still allegate that these allegations are not 100% truth. Therefore it should not be banned just because of incorrect and weak allegations.

Are girls married before the age of 18 more likely to suffer domestic violence?
Coming from a third world country full of stigmas makes me think a lot about social issues. A social issue that has been placed as one of the most controversial ones in all the tabloids is the child marriage of girls under 16 years old. This issue has the target of multiples comments worldwide, most of them blaming the parents or blaming the lack of education these poor girls received in their lives. In contrast, others refuse to see the other side of the coin, they preferred to ignore the poverty, misery, and suffering these poor girls lived. Countries with the highest percentage of child marriage are usually the ones with the highest percentage of domestic violence, being at the same time considered as the “third world countries” because of their outdated ideas and stigmas.

When I think about writing, I think of brainstorming ideas that need to be separated and organized to create a giant masterpiece worthy of convincing a worldwide audience. In the beginning, When I wrote my essay, I forgot about my audience and the effect I wanted to evoke in them, making my paper look weak or less developed compared to others in terms of organization and analysis. Contradicting everything I thought I knew about writing was differentiating what the author is doing from what the author is saying. I used some strategies to focus on what the author was doing rather than what he was saying. Every time I read a paragraph, I stopped and thought, “ok, so what is the author trying to evoke in me?” and even though I couldn’t explain in the way I wanted to be in the paper. I never lost track of what I was reading. Another strategy I used was to try to connect the text’s purpose with the audience to see how they are related, and in some of the cases, it helps me continue when I stuck in a sentence or an idea. After analyzing my first draft, I realize how bad it was my analysis level because I couldn’t organize my thoughts, ending up with a summary for each article or video. As a priority, while reviewing my final draft, I tried to make sure I could get something better out of the first analysis. I start focusing more on rhetorical analysis than the summary, which helped me develop a better well-organized draft.

Open Web Source: “Teach Us All” (Trailer Documentary) 

In this trailer for the documentary Teach Us All by Sonia Lowman. The author captures the country sixty years later after nine black kids entered a white school in Little Rock, Arkansas. In the short video of 3 minutes, the author questions the audience, “60 six later: how far have we come?”. This trailer explores the hyper segregation that the schools in the country live today, where at least 75% of the school students are from the same race. The author claims that evolution is part of us as everything in life, and segregation is not the exception; Segregation has never left just adapted to new circumstances in society. The film infers how U.S society has adopted it as a racial income inequality issue. To end up the video by saying that Education Inequality is America’s most urgent civil rights issue. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5hE2Xm_dDQ 

Magazine Article: Inequality Public Schools 

In this article by Michael Godsey, the author provides another view of how broken is the education system nowadays, while explaining the disparities between scholars and how the opportunities are limited. The author offers the SAT as an example of how unfair and unequal are these standardized exams are for students from the middle-low class who don’t receive the same education as private schools. While the kids from private schools have the opportunity to have parents that can pay hundreds of dollars in tuition for standardized exams like the SAT or ACT, the low-class students don’t get the same education and, therefore, not the same preparation for this exams. The author finishes by saying how parents see kids entering all from the same building door, yet they don’t enter through the same door of opportunities, calling them “the second door,” the systematical door. 

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/06/inequality-public-schools/395876/

Newspaper Article: A Portrait of Segregation in New York’s City’s Schools

In this article for the New York Times by Ford Fessenden, the author set out detailed and well-organized graphs accompanied by a map, to show the segregation in the five boroughs of New York City. The author uses this article to explain from a broader perspective how segregation looks in one of the most diverse cities in the world; New York. In the first graph, he evaluated the states with more segregation in schools, magnifying this social problem into a national disproportion. In the other two charts, he decided to show the consequences of segregation, being the students from low-income families the most affected group. The author accompanied the charts with a map illustrating the most segregated and less segregated schools in NYC. 

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/05/11/nyregion/segregation-in-new-york-city-public-schools.html

Scholarly Source: Racial Segregation and School Poverty 

In this article for the New York: Springer Science and Business Media LLC. Researches expose the truth of Black and Hispanic schools with high poverty rates. They analyze the data proportionated and explain why they suggest that schools’ racial segregation has broad implications for students’ achievements. By a graphic timeline and following the patters, they closely follow poverty rates in segregated minority schools in the country from 1998-1999 until 2015-2016. Revealing the disproportion in schools with a change rate of only 1% per year while concluding that black and Hispanic are more likely to attend to school with a high percentage of poverty because they tend to live in isolated neighborhoods with the lower average income in contrast to white children.

https://cuny-cc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CUNY_CC/qlf695/cdi_proquest_journals_2352030286

Even though Brown Vs. Board of Education took place 66 years ago; schools in the United States are more segregated than never. Growing up in my country, I never understood what segregation was until I came here and lived with my own eyes. I formerly graduated from a school with a diversity index of 0, all the students with the same Latin American background: Hispanic students, no whites, no blacks, no Asians, just Hispanics. After researching more, I realize that my school was not the only of this kind. Half of the city public schools are segregated, being them over 90% black and Hispanic schools. It is interesting how people usually don’t talk about this social problem or juts ignore it. When the truth is that public schools are more segregated now than 60 years ago, today. Many black children still attend schools that are racial and economically isolated—represented as 39% are black children from low-income families background, compared to the 12% represented by white children. The fact that families, no matter the background or ethnicity, always look up for the best education for their children to, later on, realize the better schools are predominant by whites or Asians expose a lot of problems in the school system of the country. According to the New York Times, New York City’s public schools were not the most segregated: Public schools in Chicago and Texas are the most segregated in the country, with 75% of their schools segregated. And while people are focused on other social issues or are just ignoring the fact that segregation in schools still exists. The truth is that we are getting far and farther from getting the victory of Brown Vs. Board of education. 

 In the Chapter “Defining Racism” include in the book Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? . In her words, the author illustrates experiences from her perspective as a black psychologist who has seen the real world and can connect her argument with facts through her stories that she has witnessed, making the argument and herself a reliable source. The author’s exigence fits perfectly in her view, basically exposing all the world’s injustices and discriminations that are wrong but still is something that we have to live every day with. You can notice the author’s intention by just looking at internal questions with no answers. The author uses to keep her message and, by asking questions, expects the audience’s reaction to her arguments and bias. Tatum’s definition of racism is complex and different from what we are accustomed to hearing in society. Her message goes especially to people from the outside bubble of prejudices and discrimination don’t understand WHO the word “racism” covers. In her way to redefine the concept of “racism” that society has accustomed to, she attempts to change society’s perception of racism. Simultaneously, she explains the ignorance and lack of knowledge of people due to what the own society “teaches”. At the same time, she talks about how people are wrong with the concept of “racism” as something related to the past; she redefines the idea of something that has evolved. Tatum’s purpose of redefining “racism” as something that only affects a specific type of people and does not benefit the people we are taught is supposed to be the real victim in society’s daily lives. Therefore, she does not extend the word “racist” to people of color because they cannot benefit from the system. Similarly, white people who do not possess active evil or malice toward people of color are still racist in that the system helps them whether or not they act. As a personal book, she is trying to expose her thoughts by telling others stories she has seen and her own story behind her words. 

The final author’s stance goes to portrays racism as something that we continuously avoid. Hence, it is easier for us to think that discrimination is only based on prejudice about our race or gender. Because we are continually trying to protect our feelings, we all want to believe that “The United States Country of Opportunities for everyone” is right. Still, the reality behind that is other; there is always a gap. That’s why it is to understand that this system of oppression, disadvantages, and injustice will continue until people truly understand the difference of genuine racism, as a system where the real oppressors don’t take advantage of the system as if it should be. 

http://seattlequest.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Why-Are-All-the-Black-Kids-Sitting-Together-in-the-Cafeteria.pdf

Name: Hudibel Ovalles

Preferred Pronouns: She/Hers

Major: Psychology

After reading and analyzing the syllabus, I submerged into a deep ocean of feelings. One part of me couldn’t believe the idea that I was going to have the opportunity to expand my writing abilities and then being able to use it in other professional areas. But, the other side of me was anxious about the language barrier that exists for me. The fact that I came to this country two years ago makes me doubt a lot about myself and my abilities when it comes to writing in English. And even though, I’m able to understand and speak in English, there is still a barrier between what I want to say and how I expressed.

For me, a good writer should be passionate when it comes to express their ideas and thoughts. In order to be a good writer, you should be able to understand your audience and be concise with the words and the impact you want to create. Good writing skills open the doors of the world for you to write what you can’t say, and then shared with the world. When it comes to writing, I’m pretty good at analyzing the speaker, his purpose, and then connected to his audience. But as I said before, it is still hard for me to express exactly what I want to say and then used to my favor.

I’m not sure what type of genre I would be writing about, maybe research articles and a lot of essays. But, what I know is that being an effective writer would give me the chance to connect with people outside of everything I know, forcing them to see me for my passionate words and not for my race or nationality.