Plagiarism

Plagiarism is taking someone else's work and using it as your own. Plagiarism is very wrong because it not only takes away credit from the original author, but it also lessens the integrity and value of your own work. Clemson has a very strong opinion about plagiarism and I believe the punishment for plagiarism is very appropriate. Plagiarism is very wrong and it does nothing but hurts the person who is copying the work. Credit needs to be given to the person who came up with the original idea, and I believe that everything should be cited that is not your original thought. It is not all that difficult to cite a source and to give credit to the original idea, so there is really no reason for plagiarism. Plagiarism is very common when people have left their work to the last minute, but you do not gain any new knowledge by simply copying someone else's work, therefore there is truly nothing good that comes from plagiarism.

DK handbook page 37 - Questions for Research

Topic: Assisted Suicide
Questions of Fact
* Who decides when Assisted Suicide is moral and when a person qualifies for Assisted Suicide?
Questions of Definition
* What is Assisted Suicide?
* What is a terminal illness?
* What are the different terms for Assisted Suicide and their definitions?
Questions of Interpretation
* How does the word "suicide" affect the public's interpretation of Assisted Suicide?
Questions of Consequence
* How will Assisted Suicide affect the families/friends of the patient? Both positive and negative fashions?
* How will legalization of Assisted Suicide affect society and the public's view of the medical profession?
* How will its legalization affect the public's feelings and opinions about intentional death?
Questions of Value
* How do ethics play a role in the doctor's ability to assist patients in this way?
Questions of Policy
* What are the laws pertaining to Assisted Suicide?
* How does the Hippocratic Oath influence these laws?

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My topic for this research assignment is Assisted Suicide. I plan on exploring the different perspectives of Assisted Suicide and the support that exists for both sides of this issue. I am going to focus mainly on the aspect of pro assisted suicide, but I also plan on researching some information about the opposing viewpoint in order to better support my paper. This issue of Assisted Suicide and the controversy behind its legalization is becoming more and more prominent in today's society, so there is a lot of new information both for and against its legalization. In this research assignment, I hope to learn more about the true definition of Assisted Suicide and learn more about the different components of this issue. I am already aware that there are many factors that must be considered for Assisted Suicide and I also know that each individual case is different and that there are many individual circumstances that surround each individual patient. I hope to learn more about the cases concerning this issue that are currently being debated, as well as situations from the past that may have had some impact on the current debates over its legalization.

For this research paper, I hope to examine many different medical websites and journals that have been published concerning this issue. I am aware of different medical journals that have published opposing viewpoints on this issue, so I hope to find many of these credible resources to help support my argument. There are also many organizations that exist that are concerned with this issue, and I hope to examine the information that they have and look into the resources that they have found to support my argument. Also, I will examine past and present cases where Assisted Suicide has either been used or been discussed for various patients. I am aware of a doctor from Michigan who was sued because of his use and support for Assisted Suicide, so I will look for more information about the court case and its outcomes. I will also look into the different laws about Assisted Suicide and where it may be legal and under what circumstances because I am aware that the laws (at least in the United States) vary from state to state. I will also examine laws that may exist outside of the U.S. to take into account its uses outside of our nation.

Some issues that I may encounter when researching this topic may be that some of the resources may be very biased. I will have to work hard to make sure my resources are as free from bias as possible. Also, I will have to make sure I fully understand both positions on this issue. In order to take a stance on the issue, I will have to make sure that I am well aware of the opposing viewpoint, which may be difficult for me if I feel very strongly about my opinion. I will have to make sure that I look at all of the aspects of this issue in order to examine this topic fully.

Preliminary Research - DK pg 27

Page 27 DK handbook:
Why might my audience care about this topic? What might they already know about it?

My audience might care about this topic because it has been becoming more and more popular and controversial in recent years. There are many different viewpoints on this issue, and not many people even know what assisted suicide is, let alone all of the different issues and aspects involved with this issue. The term "assisted suicide" automatically brings out the interest in the audience because the term "suicide" alone draws a large emotional response from the audience.

How does this topic help me address the assignment's purposes? Will this topic expand my learning? How can I shape this topic into a purpose that will interest my audience?

The purposes of this assignment is to analyze visual rhetoric in terms of broad social issues, rather than just simply an advertisement or image. This specific topic will expand my learning because it will help me to understand better the true meaning of assisted suicide and how it affects the daily lives of so many people in today's society. I believe that this topic is very misunderstood by many people in today's society, so by me researching this issue, it will help me bring about more light and truth to the topic and I will be able to better explain to my audience what assisted suicide is and how it affects people in today's society.

Does this topic seem rich enough to help me write a paper of the length asked by the assignment? Does it seem complex enough for the assignment? What is happening locally/nationally/internationally around this topic?

There are many different viewpoints and aspects that need to be considered for this topic. Because there are so many different elements and issues that deal with this topic, I believe that it is definitely rich enough for me to write a paper of this length. This issue is definitely very complex and multifaceted because of all of the moral and ethical issues that must be addressed when talking about this topic. There is a lot of controversy about the use and legal issues of assisted suicide, so there is definitely a need to address the issues and discuss how it affects society.


Google Search:
Does it look like there is a lot of interest in this topic?
There is a lot of interest in this topic, and there are many different web sites and organizations that are devoted solely to this specific issue.
What are people's different positions on the topic? Do the web pages you visit suggest other, related topics, or other direction for research?
There are many web sites that post information both about pro and con assisted suicide. Google provides related searches that include "pro assisted suicide" as well as "assisted suicide debate." There are many web sites that appear through the Google search that discuss the laws and opinions surrounding this topic. There are many different web sites that discuss both viewpoints of assisted suicide and they discuss many different aspects of my topic.

Research Paper Ideas - Brainstorming

For my research paper, I will be researching the different aspects of Assisted Suicide. I will be looking at the moral and ethical aspects of assisted suicide and the different issues and ideas behind it.

Envision In Depth pg 91

Am I interested in the topic?

I am very interested in the different aspects and perspective of Assisted Suicide. This topic has always interested me because there are so many different views and opinions on this issue. I am very interested in discovering the different views of this issue and how it is justified.

Can I argue a position on this topic?

I will definitely be able to argue a position on this topic because this is a very controversial topic and there are many different aspects and perspectives when dealing with Assisted Suicide.

Will I be able to find enough research material on this topic?

I will definitely be able to find enough research material on this topic. This topic was one of the options for a debate in my Ethics of Biology class and I am positive that there is enough information for both views of Assisted Suicide for me to research this topic. This is topic has become more and more controversial and more prevalent in today's society, so I am positive that I will be able to find enough research on this topic.

Does this sort of research appeal to me?

I really do enjoy exploring different opposing viewpoints. I love to debate different issue with people and I also like to hear what other people think about current issues, especially highly debated issues such as this. I really like to learn about justifications of different viewpoints, so I believe researching this topic will be interesting for me.

SuperBowl Commercial Analysis

The commercial that I chose to analyze was a Doritos commercial. The commercial begins with a man eating a bag of Doritos. When he bit into the first chip, a woman who was walking down the street was stripped down into her lingerie. The next chip, the man was in front of an ATM and when he bit into the chip, the machine began spitting out money. When he bit into the last chip, a police officer who was walking down the street was turned into a monkey. The man then realized he was out of chips and was hit by a bus.

Rhetorical Elements
* The Dorito bag that was used in this commercial was the red bag. It was the only bright color in the commercial. They could have chosen the blue "cool ranch" Dorito bag, but they chose to use the red bag because it stood out against the background.
* The context of this commercial was the obviously the SuperBowl. This played into the intended audience because the majority of the viewers of the SuperBowl are male, and the intended audience for this commercial was obviously male. It appealed to the male interest in the female without her clothes, the money being thrown at him, and the ability to get rid of the police. The commercials that preceded and that followed this commercial also played in to the male audience. This commercial was followed directly by two Budweiser commercials, and the commercial before the Doritos commercial was a preview for an action movie. All of these factors play in to the context and the intended audience for this commercial.
* Ethos - This commercial used the ethos appeal at the very end when the brand logo was displayed. There was a black background with just the Doritos logo which appeared to be glowing against the background. The only things that appeared on the screen at the end of the commercial were the logo for Doritos and the web site. This created a lot of blank space, drawing the viewer's attention to the logo.
* Logos - The sex appeal of the commercial uses the logos appeal. The woman was wearing matching black lingerie. The sexual appeal of the woman is designed to appeal to the male audience.
* Another element in this commercial was there was no dialogue in the entire commercial, however, the message of the commercial was still very clear.



*Although the intended audience was mainly male, it appealed to me because after I saw the commercial, I really wanted to eat Doritos. This may have been because I was hungry and waiting for dinner, however, this commercial still appealed to me.