Final Reflection

Jessica Mayes
English 201.005
Dr. Micer
8 May 2009
Final Reflection
Through the course of the semester, I have learned a great deal about communicating publicly through writing. The main thing I learned is that writing publicly is a very important skill to possess. By being able to read and examine public texts and generate my own, I feel like I have accomplished so much, and I feel like my writing has really made a difference in my world. The biggest similarity between all public literacy seems to be that it addresses a need that is considered important to the world or community it is addressing. They all seek to change the status quo.
The most challenging problem for me was to take the issue of wearing animal fur for fashion and making it relevant so that I could address it locally here in southern Indiana. Through tweaking my project just a bit, I realized that I could publicly address animal cruelty and neglect more easily, and that it would be more likely to reach people if I focused on issues that could more easily potentially affect the local people.
Now that I have a greater understanding of public literacy, I would approach my Evansville content analysis differently. I found it very difficult when I was writing it, but now that I know what it means to sit down and try to reach an audience myself, I think I would look for different points in my paper, particularly ones that are more relevant to the younger community of Evansville like the college students.
I have become much better at analyzing texts over the course of the semester due to all of the rhetorical précis I lave written. The individual précis and the rhetorical analysis were small assignments that I clearly struggled to gain the right length for. By the time I wrote my content analysis, I found it much easier to write in a way which addressed a question more thoroughly. My ability to answer questions concisely and thoroughly is one of the biggest changes I have noticed in my writings over the course of the semester.
Public sphere week was very helpful because it allowed me to see that communicating my work publicly was important. It showed me that I am able to reach people through writing, and that there is no reason to keep writing private. By allowing others to read what I had written, I felt that I was really beginning to help the animals I want to save. Knowing that I reached someone through my own hard work and effort makes me very proud, and gives me more hope than ever to be able to accomplish any goal I may set out to achieve.
To conclude, I am very thankful I got to participate in such a worldly experience this year. I know that the skills I learned here will be useful and taken with me when I leave the class. I also know that through my own writing, I can communicate to people wide and far. This fact is very comforting. I am glad that I now have the ability to make a difference.

Did You Know? Info Sheet

Brochure with Resources

Brochure: Stop the Fur Industry!

Public Sphere Announcement/Flyer

9876 Why Would I Put My Real Address Here Rd.
Evansville, IN Zip Code
April 29, 2009

Andrew Foster
Editor
The Shield
University of Southern Indiana
Evansville, IN 47712

Dear Mr. Foster,

In accordance with the animal rights movement, I believe that animals have the right to long, happy lives whenever they are able. I am here to focus on cruelty to animals, including pet abandonment and using animals for fashion in the fur industry. Many people in the tri-state area buy pets like chinchillas or rabbits without realizing the time and effort it takes to raise them, leading them to abandon these animals or to neglect them. While fur coats are not an issue here in southern Indiana, I have seen fur trimmed coats, gloves, and boots come into fashion recently. According to a recent investigation by the London newspaper, The Daily Mail, conditions on fur farms are deplorable, and animals are often skinned alive. I want to alert the student body to the animal neglect that occurs here, and tell them how they can stop or prevent it. I also want to tell people the abuse they cause by supporting the fur industry, in an attempt to dissuade them from buying and wearing fur. I had a table set up with all of my information and I spoke publicly on April 20 and 22 from 8:00am to 9:00am on campus in front of the University Center entrance.

You may e-mail me if you have any questions about my project at ******@usieagles.org, or call (812)***-**** in the afternoon between noon and 3:00PM for more information.

Sincerely,



Jessica L. Mayes

Annotated Bibliography

Jessica Mayes
Dr. Micer
English 201
27 March 2009
Animal Rights and the Fur Industry: An Annotated Bibliography

"Animal Rights." Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2006. Credo Reference. 25 March 2009. . This encyclopedia article articulates the way certain religions of the world view human and animals relationships. It also addresses philosophical implications of animal rights and gives arguments for both sides of the issue. It is a valuable resource in which to find religious aspects that are against using animals for personal gain and cruelty towards animals.

"Animal Rights: Fur." Issues & Controversies On File. 23 April 1999. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services. 25 March 2009. . This article is an argument, presenting both the animal rights activists attacking arguments and the fur industry’s defensive counterarguments. The information can be used to oppose the fur industry’s cruel slaughter and inhumane treatment of animals for human vanity.

"Animal Testing." Issues & Controversies On File. 1 September 2000. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services. 25 March 2009. . This article addresses the issue of animals used for medical research. It describes the ongoing debate between researchers and animal activists, and questions the need for animal testing. It is a resource rich in criticisms against people who use animals for their own needs, ignoring the animals suffering.

"Coats Made from Dog and Cat Pelts Raise a Furor (sidebar)." Issues & Controversies On File. 23 April 1999. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services. 25 Mar. 2009. . This article is details and investigation that revealed that cat and dog fur was being used for fur clothing. This outraged and disgusted people, and I will use this as evidence to convince people that when they wear fur, in essence they are wearing their furry pet.

de Fraga, Carole. "China's fur farms exposed." Animals Today 13.0 (Feb. 2005): 19. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Rice Library, Evansville, IN. 23 March 2009. . This article from people magazine describes a recent investigation that took place on a Chinese fur farm. It states cruel treatment of the animals in these kinds of fur farms regarding their manner of execution. By bringing the inhumane treatment of these abused animals to light, I hope to dissuade people from buying fur.

Diamantis, Nikolaos. "Morality is the key issue for anti-fur campaigners." The Express. [United Kingdom] 21 August 2008, 1st ed., Letters sec.: 35. This article is a letter regarding the inhumanity of raising animals to be slaughtered for their fur. It describes the harsh living conditions and execution methods of these animals, and how some people do not see a problem with it. This illustrates and vanity and denial is why the fur industry is still active.

Donahue, Alex. "The Office star strips for Peta anti-fur campaign." Brand Republic News Releases 14 August 2007: 1. This magazine article is about the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ campaign against the fur industry, particularly against black bear fur coats. It describes the unnecessary pain it causes bears and how it often orphans cubs in order to make these coats.

Leepson, M. "Animal rights." CQ Researcher, 1 (1991, May 24): 301-324. CQ Researcher Online. Rice Library, Evansville, IN. 25 March 2009. . This article from describes the ongoing battle between animal rights activists and biomedical researchers. It then gives the history of the philosophical views on animal cruelty, and moves into the animal rights movement. It describes new activism focusing mainly on cruelty to animals through medical and cosmetic testing. Though the fur industry is not being attacked, another industry, the medical industry, is being opposed. I can use the description of the cruel treatment of animals for human pleasure as an issue to convince my audience that wearing fur for fashion is unethical.

Merrilees, Parker. "SKINNED ALIVE FOR THE CATWALK; The lucky ones are gassed. The rest suffer an unspeakable fate. As fur makes a big comeback in the autumn fashions, a TV investigation reveals the bloody price." Daily Mail [London] 9 August 2008: 32. LexisNexis Academic. Rice Library, Evansville, IN. 23 March 2009. < http://www.lexisnexis.com.lib-proxy.usi.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T6414638496&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T6414638499&cisb=22_T6414638498&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=138794&docNo=13>. This newspaper article details a reporter’s investigation into fur factories after the comeback of fur on the fashion scene. It describes in detail how animals are kept in small enclosures, starved, and skinned alive. This evidence and the inhumanity of trapping these animals will be used to sway the audience’s perception of fur for fashion purposes.

Triggs, Charlotte. "THE FAKE FUR SCANDAL." People 67.1 (09 Apr. 2007): 116. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Rice Library, Evansville, IN. 23 March 2009. . This article from People magazine describes the way in which fur and fur trimmed garments are often mislabeled. It will be useful in my proposal because it mentions the dog fur is sometimes used as trim are garments but is mislabeled as coyote fur. People would be much less willing to wear fur if they knew that it came from a household pet.