My Discussion Log
Today we started class by writing a “WILDCARD!!!!!!!” notecard. Then Mat read us the poem “I Will Not Die According to My Time Sheet” by Alain Ginsberg found at http://www.onmetatron.org/poetry/alain-ginsberg-three-poems/ . Next, Darian read her log from the previous class. Mat then mentioned that we should start taking notes on the mini-presentations because it will be beneficial for project 3. He pulled up the page http://matwenzel.wixsite.com/2135/single-post/2017/06/26/How-to-discuss from his blog to give us guidelines for what to say during the discussion for the presentations.
Autumn then began with her presentation on the issue of abortion rates in Iceland of babies that are predicted to have Down Syndrome. She showed a Facebook video of a pro-life teenage girl discussing the issue which may be rewatched at https://www.facebook.com/studentsforlife/videos/10154766697567927/. The focus of the video was a misleading title of a news article posted by CBS “Inside the Country Where Down Syndrome is Disappearing.” Then Mat threatened to call on random students to get involved with the discussion on Autumn’s presentation, but we did a good job discussing a very controversial topic and he didn’t have to call on anyone. People mainly commented on the misleading and possible missing information from the video. No matter our personal views, the majority of the class agreed that the video did a good job of picking apart the title of the article.
Next, Alex gave his presentation on a music video for the song “Good Company” by Jake Owen found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJlGtyzIRm8. He talked about how the video is atypical for a country song because it includes a small island in the Bahamas. Alex has a personal connection to this video because the artist is from his home town and Alex has also been to the island featured in the video (Grand Cay). Alex gave us background on the poverty level in this area which gave us more understanding for an otherwise confusing video. Again, our discussion was good and Mat didn’t have to call anyone out.
