"Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

“Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was a letter written in 1963 by Martin Luther King, Jr. I actually read this article in my AP English class junior year, as we studied multiple pieces of literature from the American civil rights movement. In the letter, King responds to a statement by eight white Alabama clergymen, who indicated their belief that the fight against racial segregation should be fought in the court, not on the street. King responded by demonstrating his view that without aggressive, direct protest and action, change will never occur.
After re-reading this letter, I went to the Mars, Inc. website, and chose a piece from the careers section which was a persuasive piece of work indicating why people should want to work for Mars. I chose Mars because it is a company based out of Northern Virginia, my hometown, which I would love to do an internship and eventually work for upon graduation. They engage in some very fascinating marketing techniques and business strategies that I would love to be a part of.
Each author of the pieces of writing indicated uses very different techniques to persuade their audiences. King is speaking to the general public, government officials, and anyone concerned with the issue of segregation or attempting to make change. Mars is speaking to prospective employees and people interested in what it is like to work for Mars. King’s tone is more serious and urgent, while Mars uses a more sympathetic, light tone to gain individuals interest and to make them feel like the company cares about them. In King’s letter, he meets the clergymen’s concerns and then successfully negates them with examples of attempts taken to lead a non-violent protest which were unsuccessful. This is an important aspect of persuasive writing, seeing and then counteracting the opponent’s argument. He also uses pathos to persuade his audience. The persuasive work from Mars, Inc., tries to emphasize the company’s care for its customers and employees. It indicates that Mars has remained a private business in order to maintain a unique, accepting working and business environment. It emphasizes the diversity of employees which contributes to the innovations made. Basically, Mars tries to persuade its audience to consider a career at Mars with its individuality and care for people, not just the corporate world. These two pieces of literature are vastly dissimilar, but both can be considered persuasive writing.

My Life in 10 Years

The question, what do you want your life to be like in ten years, is very difficult for me, and I think for many twenty year old college students to answer. My interests are still changing, and I am still finding out who exactly I am as a person. I will base my ideal life in ten years off of what I know about myself right now.
In ten years, I will be thirty, which to me is kind of the turning point from being a young adult to a more settled-down individual. I want to live my twenties having fun, meeting new people, and being as care-free and frivolous as possible, to be honest. I hope to keep in contact with both my friends from adolescence and from college, and even see some on a semi-regular basis. By thirty, however, I would like to be settling down, hopefully married, and possibly have one child. This is not to say that I am rushing and putting a timer on getting married, this is just something I hope will happen.
I would like to be starting my family in Washington, DC. I was born in DC, but grew up in a suburb. Nevertheless, I know the city very well and love it for all that it is: historical, social, fantastic restaurants, great shopping, interesting people, endless things to do, etc. It also has many great job opportunities for marketing majors. My desire to live somewhere so close to home (I grew up 45 minutes outside of DC) does not derive from any sort of familiarity or ignorance of the rest of the world. I am very well-traveled, having visited most major cities within and also many outside the U.S. I love traveling and experiencing new cultures, but I know that DC or close outside of DC is the place I would like to call home.
Currently, one of my interests is nutrition and health, and I have always been interested in sports. Combining this with my background in marketing, my dream job would be to work for a fitness company, sports apparel brand, or professional sports team, such as the Washington Redskins. I would like to be part of a marketing or advertising team that is finding new, creative ways to market the company’s products and services. My ultimate career aspiration is to be CEO of a company such as these, but I just hope that by thirty I am moving in that direction and upward in the company. Another interest I have is fashion, so I think I would also enjoy doing the same thing for a clothing brand, but instead finding ways to market their new designs. While maintaining my job, I hope to be working towards receiving a masters in marketing, advertising, or nutrition and health. I also hope that between an occupation, school, and a new marriage, I will still have time for friends, having more children, and creating a home. Easier said than done, I know.
I have a strong relationship with my family right now, and I just hope that we do not lose that closeness as my siblings and I start our own families and careers. I hope that my siblings live close to me, and that my parents remain in Warrenton so that it is easy for them to come visit me, and vice versa. Since I was an infant I have traveled all over the world with my family and that is what sparked my interest in travel. I hope that, not only will my husband and I have the financial security to travel to foreign places, but also that we can go on these vacations with my family.
I realize one’s plans change as he or she changes, and that they don’t always pan out as one might have thought, but I hope that I do, and I feel that I am a very ambitious person that is relentless in striving for her goals. Ultimately, in ten years, I just want to have a happy, successful, healthy, exciting life, shared with the people I love.

Web 2.0

This video, Web 2.0 was very futuristic and not at all what I had expected. I at least expected some speaking or individual involvement, but instead it was messages revealed through various forms of text across a computer screen. I think the creator of this video made it as a way to symbolize the present and future of our culture, lifestyle, and professional lives. The world today is so technology and web focused, and it will only become more so in the future. When certain softwares are created and updated with newer versions, they increase in a number, like the 2.0 in the title, "Web 2.0". The creator is trying to send the message through the title by using a small number such as 2.0, that the web, although it dominates our lives, is still very new and it will only become more technically advanced. This video indicates how important the web is to
individuals entering the workplace. Being able to navigate the web easily and understand how to use technology and its capabilities is becoming a valuable and necessary tool as a prospective employer. A person trying to enter the workplace with no computer skills will find it very difficult to find a job. Current workers at prospective companies need to realize the importance of being technically-able, and if they are not, they need to become so by either exploring the internet and computers or taking a class. If current employees do not do so, I believe they are at risk of losing their jobs, due to the ongoing advancements of the web. Lastly, although I do not believe it was the creator of "Web 2.0"'s intention, this video also represents the impersonal effect the web and technology is having on society. This video had no interaction between people, nor did it have and speaking involved. The web has also reduced the use of the telephone, letters, and even person to person interaction because of the convenience of text messaging, email, AIM, etc. I think in the near future people entering the workplace could expect to see this impersonalization, as more and more people will begin to communicate in these ways in their professional fields, and they might not even have to enter an office or ever meet their employers in person.

Introduction

Hello. My name is Lauren Bell but I go by McClain. I am from Northern Virginia. I am a sophomore here at Clemson majoring in Marketing with a minor in French.