Author: caedenh

The image I have chosen to analyze is a photo of a neighborhood in Queens, New York in December, after the superstorm Hurricane Sandy devastated most of the east coast. The first thing you see when looking at the photo, is an American flag covering a piece of debris while everything else in the background is destroyed by either the hurricane or demolished due to damages that were to sever to repair. Further in the background, the debris and rubble left by Sandy are also surrounded by homes and vehicles of another neighborhood that were fortunate enough to survive the damages and demolition caused by hurricane Sandy. This photo was also used as a header for an article written in 2013 about the politics of disaster aid in America.

The first thing you see when looking at the photo, is an American flag with a few holes in it, hung over a piece of rubble, while the sun still gleaming across its stars and stripes. The flag is in the middle of a whole complex of torn down houses and buildings. These structures were either destroyed during the hurricane or had damages too severe from the hurricane that they had to be torn down and rebuilt later. Even further in the background, more houses and some vehicles surrounded the dilapidated area which were all fortunate enough to survive the damages from the hurricane. The sky was mostly grey with overcast and all the trees didn’t have their leaves, giving the photo a desolate look and desperate feel to it. The photo is primarily for American citizens that have been affected by natural disasters or people concerned about the effects natural disasters can have on our country and families. The audience when looking at the photo might feel a sense of hope seeing the American flag brightly light by the sun surrounded by piles of rubble. This implies that these Americans affected by the damages of the hurricane still has hope that things will get better despite losing their homes and many valuable items

The interesting part about the photo is that it was taken two months after Hurricane Sandy came, meaning that the flag has been sitting there for months untouched. The reason why the flag was placed in a disgusting and destroyed location rather than on a pole somewhere nicer, is to show that even after disaster strikes, America still stands strong along with all of its people. America has experienced many disasters throughout the years, from category 5 Hurricanes, 9.2 magnitude earthquakes, and thousands of tornados. In 2018 there were over 100 natural disasters that hit America killing over 350 Americans causing $82 billion in damages. Yet after so much loss and worry caused by these natural disasters, Americans affected by these disasters and even ones that were not, still shows support and hope for their country. Even though there are hundreds of natural disasters that destroy homes, buildings, and families; everybody gets through it and recovers in the end. No matter what happens, it’s always to remember that things will get better and to still hold hope, and that’s what this photo is trying to say.

With the improvement of virtual reality headsets and technologies, VR can provide an efficient and cost-effective solution in treating people with mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Treatment methods and practices have been around for over a decade now but does not have much publicity and usage as other therapy methods. Mental health is also extremely important throughout every stage of life and can heavily impact society. In writing this paper, I am wanting to shed light on the importance mental health is to individuals and society, and on how VR can be used to effectively treat mental health disorders.

My biggest concern for writing my research paper is if I will have enough time to write everything that I want. I’m not sure if I will be able to prioritize my time correctly when my other classes start to become harder and more time consuming because of finals.

Another concern is that I won’t be able to find enough resources or ones that give me different and useful information. I have already found a couple good ones but I’m afraid those are all that I will find.

Topic 1: whether virtual reality technologies can be used to help patient with depression, anxiety, phobias, or other mental health issues.

Topic 2: Are video game simulations and virtual reality technology a viable way to train troops for real life combat.

In the past decade, there has been more thought into the idea of habituating other planets in order to extend the human race’s survival in the universe. With modern day technology, the thought of doing this can only be drawn out, written, or simulated in video games and movies; but the reality of the future health of our planet can be of concern to some and has led many people to speculate ways to further the human race. I believe if we wait long enough for technology to improve and for more people to become concerned with space colonization, we will be able to colonize other Earth-like planets outside of our solar system or planets that offer valuable resources. We have discovered over 80 naturally occurring elements on our planet that are used for powering our cities, fueling our cars, and feeding our people. Unfortunately, these elements do not last forever, and synthetically creating these elements hasn’t yielded results equivalent to natural elements. The universe is unknown, meaning there are unknown possibilities in the universe that can help us survive in the future. The problem with this is that these possibilities are, well unknown, and we don’t have many places in mind on where to look for these resources and having the means to get these resources is well out of the equation. We can, however, hypothesis ways in getting these resources and using them to benefit our civilization. In fact, we have been hypothesizing these ways for years now, some are taken into careful consideration and others are for pure entertainment. There have been many TV shows, movies, and video games made that all depict the various ways the future of the human race, or other species like aliens, can evolve into. Of course, their ideas aren’t taken in with consideration on if their idea is actually possible and its sole purpose is for entertainment. They do, however, provide a useful insight into the possibilities the future may possibly hold for us and provide a type of brainstorming method in where no ideas are shot down to maximize ideas for future space travel. Many researchers and scientists are trying to find new, feasible ways to acquire more resources without consideration of cost. Some are considering mining asteroids that are almost entirely made out of certain elements such as gold or iron. We have just recently landed a probe on a moving asteroid so this theory can be very possible in the future. There are also many theories that our planet is not the only Earth-like in the universe. So if we can travel to another planet that provides the essential living components, like on Earth, we can hope that this new planet has enough resources to last us for many more years. The common problem these ideas share is that they will all take a lot of time and a lot of money to create and put into effect. This is where the concern comes into play on whether these ideas are actually worth implementing in the future as they may fail and end up being a huge waste of time and money. We cannot answer these questions now and must continue research to find answers to these questions in the mean time. Though I am optimistic that space travel, colonization, and mining is possible.

In this essay, Brandon Bell writes about climate change and its possible negative consequences like what has happened to Syria in recent years. Bell explains and outlines how water mismanagement, drought, and government inaction led to economic hardship in Syria causing people to lash out in violent acts of change. He supports his argument by citing multiple scientific sources and researchers, such as Martin Hoerling, a research meteorologist at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He uses these sources to how climate change affected Syria and what has happened because of it, and to build ethos and his credibility about his topic. He builds his credibility in the beginning of his essay by explaining his view on climate change in Syria and the turmoil it has created in the country. He does this to show he has a professional understanding about the topic and that he won’t waste the readers time. His use of logic and statistical facts from trusted sources is to present that the reason why Syria is experience longer droughts, agriculture losses, and economic problems is most likely due to climate change. He writes, “Extreme weather events, such as the extended drought, are often attributed to climate change, which helps explain why the resulting conditions are abnormally fierce,” to show that this recent drought was likely possible due to climate change and diminished water supplies. Bell does not show much emotion about the topic as he wants to keep a professional image but does express some concern at the end of his paper. He says that we should focus more on understanding climate change’s affects on our world to express that he is concerned about it and that we should take action. Overall, Bell’s use of rhetoric and informative tone does a good job of informing the reader of possible consequences of climate change if we don’t act now

Thesis: “Given the conflicts underway in the country, this essay explores the consequences of climate change—particularly the increased probability, strength, and duration of drought—that in turn led to political, social, and especially economic conditions that allowed for the beginning of a civil war”

• Bell’s thesis is located in the middle of his introduction paragraph
• Bell puts his thesis there in order to set up his claim in the beginning of the paragraph and to then explain how his paper is structured and what major points he will be covering.

Audience: Both younger and older generations, as he talks about climate change and a civil war, as well as anyone concerned with the Syrian civil war.

Ethos: Bell has a professional view on this situation demonstrating good knowledge and a firm lead about his topic

• He quotes many valid scientists and researchers to support his argument and make it stronger
• has strong vocubalry and professional word choice

Logos: Uses many facts and statistics on what climate change and water mismanagement has done to Syrian Agriculture and economy

• Cites researches conducted by professional scientists throughout his paper
• “The 2007-2008 season harvest only produced 2.1 million tons of wheat, which is less than half of the long-term average harvest of 4.7 million tons (de Châtel 524). The actual percentage decrease in wheat harvest is more than 55%. Of the typical 4.7 million tons produced during a wheat harvest, 3.8 million tons are typically consumed internally (de Châtel 524).”
• All examples are related to his thesis and appear in every paragraph.”

Pathos: expresses concern about his matter to relate to others with the same concern and to convince us to act on the situation

• He includes “what if” questions to get the reader to think about the situation in more depth. “If action had been taken in Syria? What if Assad actually enacted and enforced legislation to alleviate the conditions favorable to drought before it began? Would the outcome be different?”
• He connects all of his topics of discussion back to climate change showing that the big picture behind everything that is going on is that we should all be worrying about what climate change can do to our world

kairos: His argument is made at a very good time as climate change is a global concern that has a lot of research and funding to see if it is real and what it can do to us in the future. The Syrian civil war is still going on to this day as well, so he is showing a lot of insight into the problems theor country is facing now to show what climate change could do to other countries.

My early childhood was like any other elementary school kid; simple, carefree, and playful. Only there was one problem that I had that didn’t seem like any other kid my age had. I had an irrational fear of thunderstorms and lightning. All of my friends did not have this problem, neither did anyone in my family. I felt alone, misunderstood, and desperate for some help. My mom, Angie, and my dad, Jay, were the biggest supporters of me, of course, as well as my friends’ parents, like Mrs. Mankus, and older family members. However, my friends didn’t really understand my problem, and that hurt a lot. The people I related to the most and cared about the most couldn’t relate to me, so I shut myself out to them and didn’t want to be around them anymore. It was hard to deal with, but it was the only thing I could do to make myself feel safe. I had an irrational fear of thunderstorms and lightning.

      Being around friends was the hardest part because of me fear. If I was alone in a storm, I would usually hide under a blanket, out in headphones, and try my hardest to not hear the thunder. However, when I’m around friends and don’t have all of those things, I have to keep calm and act like the storm isn’t bothering me even when I am terrified inside. I remember at one sleepover at my friend’s house, I let my calm slip and turned into a scared 10-year-old boy, huddled in a corner secluded from everyone else. My friend’s mom, Mrs. Mankus really helped me calm down that night even in one of the biggest storms I have ever been in. She grew up in western Oklahoma, also known as Tornado Alley. I couldn’t imagine growing up there with the state I was in, especially when what I feared the most in storms is the chance of a tornado touching down. I remembered her saying, “It’s okay to be afraid, everyone is afraid of something.” I didn’t believe her though; all of my friends were still running around having fun and laughing while I was still huddled in a corner. This was the hardest part about my fear and the only part I couldn’t understand.

      I remember coming home on the last day of school for my fifth-grade year. It was a clear sunny day with not a cloud in sight, and I spent that afternoon playing video games without a care in the world. I was enjoying my day when all of a sudden, an alert came on the tv saying there is possible tornado conditions in your area. I immediately turn on the weather channel and call my dad to tell him there might be a tornado. “Oh don’t worry Caeden, there hasn’t been a tornado here in Delaware since forever” he says. At this point I am freaking out trying to calm down when the weather channel says the tornado watch is now a warning. I call my dad again and he says the same thing. Right when I ended the call, I noticed the wind pick up and all the flowers and bushes in our front garden whipped around in the wind. I wasn’t sure if it was just wind or it was an actual tornado, until I heard what sounded like a train going by my house. I then sprinted and looked out the window only to see a dark column of spinning clouds barreling down my street and tearing down power lines. The tornado was categorized as an EF 0, the lowest grade a tornado can get, but since it rained before it touched down, the ground was soft and it ripped up plants and knocked over huge trees.     

 After that day I wasn’t afraid of storms, thunder, or lightning again. In fact, I like watching storms come through and seeing the elaborate lightning strikes across the sky. I faced my biggest fear and that’s what helped me get over it, not the people I cared about telling me I would be okay. It can only take five minutes to change your feelings and view of the world

Hello, My name is Caeden Hodny. I was born and raised here in Newark, Delaware and have been part of the Blue Hen family for my whole life. My mom and dad both used to teach as adjunct professors, so coming to UD wasn’t a hard decision for me. I am an entrepreneurship major and would like to minor in finance my sophmore year. My hopes are to start a company that can impact the world in a positive way, but I am unsure of what company that will be yet.