Author's Note for Portfolio

Overall my portfolio is complete. I have included everything and have done all of the tasks. Most of my materials are in the actual physical portfolio I am turning in, besides the blogs and some of the pre-writing. My first 6 page draft is uploaded to e-college, but in the portfolio, in hard copy, are comments on that draft. Most of the blogs were easy for me to complete, but the one about how my case study had developed was hard for me to expand. I feel like I have a had a pretty good grip on the overall concept of the paper, as well as my specific topic about Mexico safety for tourists.
My final draft of the paper I am very proud of. This time, I spent a lot more time editing for grammatical errors because that is what brought my grade down last time. I really like my opening and closing paragraphs and I think it is good that I included an analysis of my own travel to Mexico. The body paragraphs I feel are equally balanced with summary and analysis of each of the sources. I am interested how, in the long run, this issue will develop and how the United States will deal with it. I am still a little uncomfortable with the MLA citation but I think I figured it out in the end. I really enjoyed writing this paper because it was a little more cut and dry, but so far this semester I have enjoyed the papers because I was able to write about subjects that I was actually interested in.

Development of Rhetorical Case Study

Overall, my rhetorical case study has progressed very well. I finished the conclusion and did a fair amount of editing yesterday and today. I also sent my paper in to the writing center and they provided me with feed back in terms of where I needed to go into more detail or clarify my explanations. They also helped me correct more of my grammatical errors because that is something I really struggle with. I really like my paper a lot and I am surprised that it came out so well. I think that it was easy to write and understand what my sources had to say because I cared about the topic and was already pretty well informed about it.
I was never really worried about meeting the length requirement because I had plenty to say about the topic. The analyzing of the sources was something I enjoyed as well as trying to understand the motives behind their writing. I think that I have evolved my argument throughout my paper and that I was as clear as possible with my explanations.

Author's Note:
This draft of my paper I am very proud of. I feel like I am almost done with the whole editing process. I would really like some input on the overall flow of the essay and grammatical structure. I would also like for whoever reads this to check the MLA formatting and citation. Any other feedback is welcomed considering I am only planning on doing one more edit before submitting it.

My Rhetorical Case Study Subject and The Local Community

Mexico violence is very significant in the local community of Fort Worth, but also within the state of Texas. In Fort Worth, especially at Texas Christian University many students are planning on traveling to Mexico for their spring break trip. The issues of kidnapping and drug cartels have greatly been increasing and the media attention to these issues has also been on the rise. My topic greatly effects individuals choice's on whether or not they will travel south of the border for their vacation. Students or Spring Breakers are also the target of all arguments presented by experts and reporters on the issue because they know that they are the ones who will soon be visiting Mexico. It is especially important for students to be aware of what is going on because with the implications of spring break (excessive drinking and partying) many of them will make poor decisions regarding their safety whether or not the drug war violence is occurring. The probability of students however being effected by these events is minimal, but it could happen to any one.
Within Texas it is also important to note that we are immediate neighbors of Mexico and that most of the problems that are occurring are located on the Mexican border. There have already been several occurrences of bordering states such as Arizona and Texas who has experienced kidnapping and killings of those who are involved in the drug cartel action, as well as those who are innocent bystanders. In Texas we also have a lot of workers who travel here daily, crossing the border from Mexico to the United States. These workers could be a part of the drug cartels and they have have an easy pathway to gain access to the country.
Every American should be concerned with what is occurring in Mexico because if we did not have a market for illegal drugs within the United States we would take away the fuel of the fire.

Author's Note (Draft 1)

For my first draft I have put in a lot of work. I like the structure of my argument and the flow it takes throughout the paper. I really need help with where I should be putting the in text citations and how the grammatical structure should take form. I would also like to know if I am explaining the source well enough and if I am analyzing it enough in terms of the author's motives and use of rhetorical analysis. I have not finished my conclusion because I got burnt out writing this paper so I am saving that work for later this week. In the closing I plan to reevaluate the idea of traveling to Mexico and why there is such a dispute between sources about the safety issues within the country. I offer any criticism or comments that may further help me develop this essay, especially grammatically and source identification wise which I did not include in this draft, though I have the sources ready to add in.

Body Paragraph Formation

The analysis of the sources has not been difficult at all. I actually liked analyzing the arguments that were implicitly or explicitly being implied. It was pretty much what I expected to find when analyzing the sources considering the authors of them. All of my sources center around one central idea that the chance of encountering safety risks in Mexico can be significantly reduced by being an alert, respectful and informed tourist. It is important to understand each individual sources' implications because it helps tie together the central or controlling idea.
As I analyze the sources it is also important to notice the biases that most of the sources have. The only source that I am 100% sure is bias free is the one from The United States Government, which is the source about the Travel Alert issued on February 20th.
It is also interesting hearing about people, specifically college Spring Breakers who are calling off their trips to locations in Mexico that have been specified as specifically dangerous because of their exposure to the drug cartels, kidnappings and random firefight. Two days ago all TCU students also received an e-mail cautioning those who were visiting Mexico during the Spring Break period to be responsible and aware of their surroundings at all time.
Even though many people have cancelled their trips due to the issues Mexico is facing, there are still several large groups of students from universities all over the nation that will be visiting there in just one short week.
I may have to add some sources to my paper because of all of the new articles that are being written, especially those from students who visited there within the last week and have experienced no problems at all.

Pre-Writing Rhetorical Case Analysis

How are your sources related together?
All of my sources are drawn together by the common thread of the Drug Wars in Mexico, the kidnappings and violence associated with them and their specific effects on tourism to the country. Two of my four sources enforce that Mexico should not be traveled to right now because of its dangerous conditions. The other two share the opinion that when visiting Mexico for Spring Break, there are certain precautions that individuals can take to ensure that they have a safe trip or decrease their chance of encountering problems within the country. There are also suggestions for improving the condition in Mexico in three out of the four articles by implementing the Mexican and United States Government.

Controlling Idea (Narrowing it Down):
The Drug Wars in Mexico, bringing both issues of kidnappings and violence to the country, have been specifically impacting tourists who consider traveling to the country.

Organization:
Introduction – description of what is actually going on and what the major concerns are and potential ideas as to why tourism is being impacted by these events
Mexico: The Third War – Security issues are getting worse and Mexican government is very decentralized and ineffective (Start with this source because it is the most negative and explains a fair amount of the background of the situation)
Q&A: The Drug War – Enforces how big of an issue Mexico’s problems are and that they should not be ignored by Americans/ Directly addresses travel and safety concerns (This source will be helpful in explaining specific areas to avoid and what locations are safe to travel to, gives reassurance that tourist towns are okay to visit as long as travelers are sensible)
Travel Alert – Issued by the United States Government and its undertone is encouraging Americans to be very alert and safe when traveling to Mexico and that there may be graver concerns other than just drugs/ Who to contact and local governments within Mexico that may be helpful to travelers if caught in a dangerous situation (Credibility of this source is key to their argument, although not explicitly stated, they would recommend not traveling there, however, they offer ideas for those who will be within the next 6 months)
Mexico Travel Safety – Article that tells travelers not to be worried about the situations and enforcing that those who do travel should follow specific guidelines and suggestions (Good because this person is very credible and works for the Mexican Government, not ulterior motives associated with the writing, ends essay on a positive note, summarizing all sources suggestions with an added bit of confidence in the situation)
Conclusion

Transitions from Source to Source:
Mexico: The Third War (Informative and Negative Towards Travel) -----> Q&A: The Drug War (Answers specific questions and concerns starts to really address the issue of travel) -----> Travel Alert (Informative, specifically addresses issues about travel to Mexico from the United States along with suggestions of precautions to take) -----> Mexico Travel Safety (No concern at all for safety, describes beauty of Mexico and gives several suggestions of things to consider when traveling to any foreign country, but in particular Mexico)

Research Progression

My view on Mexico Drug Violence and its influence on tourism has somewhat changed in terms of how severe I thought the situation was. There are plenty of sources, both primary and secondary, that emphasize that it is unsafe to travel to Mexico, yet there are sources that say that with specific precautionary measures, one could travel to the country and not have any problems. What matters though, is how people interpret these sources' facts, opinions and pieces of evidence.
I originally thought that it was just a problem to be ignored and that it was not very significant in effecting travel to Mexico. As I analyze my primary sources though I realize that ti is a much more serious issue. Once the Travel Alert was issued by the United States Government people, including myself, started to view the issues in Mexico as urgent. Because of the credibility of the sources that I am reading, it is easy to be persuaded by the arguments they present.
Three of my four sources however, do not directly state whether or not someone should travel to Mexico. They only offer tips or travel safety precautions to follow if one was to visit the country as well as locations to avoid. It is important to understand the author of the argument however to understand their possible bias towards the subject.
My topic has evolved to more of a concentration on Mexican Drug Cartels, their violence and their influence on tourism. Again, although my sources do not directly state whether or not one should visit the country, their are implications in the structure and wording of the argument that convinces the reader otherwise.

Research

1. 2-4 Overall concerns about research at this stage in the process:

• At first, I had problems finding primary resources because a lot of the information out there is in news-article format and most of those writing have done minimal research or interview those with opinions about it, but no hard facts.
• I think it is also hard to distinguish which source I should primarily draw from because now that I have found 4 really great and informative sources they are contradictory, so I need to figure out how to link them together.

2. Source 1: Mexico Travel Safety

• This source is a primary source because it is written by a woman who is a regulated tour guide by the Mexican Secretary of Tourism. She also lives in Mexico so she has first hand experience when witnessing items that she speaks about.
• I chose this source because it offers a more comforting or positive view on the subject, instead of discouraging all travel to Mexico, she tells readers what they should do to protect themselves and reassures them that it is safe when following those guidelines.
• The source is about what precautions travelers to Mexico should take when trying to avoid robberies, kidnappings and the Mexican drug cartels.
• The author uses her ethos or credibility by stating that she lives there and has not been involved in the issues being discussed in the news. She also uses pathos by keying into peoples senses when in the first paragraph she describes what Mexico has to offer.

3. Source 2: Travel Alert

• This source is a primary source because is is written by The United States Government in a Travel Alert format in which is presented by the US Department of Affairs by the Bureau of Consulate Affairs.
• I chose this source because of its recency (Feb. 20th) and because it offers a political standpoint by The United States Government. It address the topic as an incidence that should be taken very seriously.
• The source is informing United States citizens about that dangers and issues that Mexico is facing right now and what should be avoided if one does chose to travel to Mexico.
• The source uses strictly logos. They present hard facts, which are difficult to dispute as well as specific claims. It also has been recently updated meaning that the US' credibility is fairly strong when it comes to informing their citizens. They also use their authority to manipulate individual views of the country.

4. Source 3: Q&A: The Drug War

• The source qualifies as a primary source because it is a personal interview with an expert on the subject, Sam Quinones who is a staff writer with the Los Angeles Times.
• I chose this source because it was a different form of argument presented in a verbal way. It address the topic in a fairly objective, but urgent manner. I liked this source because it was easy to understand when it feels like the expert is speaking directly to you and answering questions.
• The source is about the drug cartels in Mexico and whether or not it is safe to travel there.
• The rhetorical strategies I noticed are the way the speaker or authors changes the pitch and tone in his voice to imply the urgency and importance of the facts that he is making. He uses his credibility of being a resident of Mexico for 10 years and as an author of two books on the country to show readers that he is a credible source. I also liked that if you typed in questions he would answer you in a blog format which I think is very original.

5. Source 4: Mexico: The Third War

• I chose this source because it comes from a primary intelligence agency that has specific information available.
• This source addresses the specifics of the drug war and kidnappings as well as defines a lot of information for a reader if they do not understand the subject.
• The motive of this author is to inform the general public or those traveling to Mexico in the future about the security issues and safety problems that may arise as a result.
• I thought it was interesting that the author didn't come right out say that there are hard facts. He makes it easy to rely on him as a source because he does not present himself as the "know-all" of the topic.

Research for Rhetorical Case Analysis

I have changed my topic to Mexico Drug Wars and their influences on tourism.
It has been very difficult for me to find primary sources for my topic. Most newspaper articles that I found are just reports on information and the authors have not been directly involved. I have found a lot of good information, but nothing that would count as a primary source at this point. I think I may try looking at some blogs or see if there are any reports on travel websites as to individuals experiences in Mexico recently. The way a lot of sources, primary or not, approach the topic is from a neutral standpoint. The sources offer both positive and negative aspects of traveling to Mexico. I wish that researching was easier!
Another thing that is interesting is a lot of reporters are putting in suggestions to keep safe while traveling in Mexico. It seems like many people are truly concerned about the safety of Americans traveling to Mexico. The sources are very careful not to point a finger at the Mexican government but they are not shy about telling the American government to become involved by either increasing border control or placing more restrictions on the purchasing of illegal drugs, which causes the safety hazards for tourists.
I am struggling with trying to find primary sources but I hope that by looking for blogs or government information I will be able to expand my resources.

Topic Selection

For my topic I have decided to explore Type I Diabetes. More specifically I would like to examine whether or not the cause of Diabetes is thought to be nature, nurture or both. There is no specific cause that can be directly related to Diabetes as far as research can tell but I am interested in what people think causes the disease to develop. For primary sources I would like to talk to some endocrinologists, individuals with diabetes, their parents or care takers, dietitians and those who lead programs that help families cope with the disease. I think it would be interesting to see how different people who are involved with different aspects of the disease interpret the reason why certain individuals get it and others don't.
Does it have to do with a specific genetic mutation that someone is born with and then later triggered by some chemical imbalance? Is the trigger due to an environmental trigger? Why is it that some nations or regions have a more prevalent base of Diabetes and others do not? Although there is no correct answer to the question what is the cause of Type I Diabetes, there are a lot of contradictory view points and I think that each view point depends on the exposure one has had to the auto-immune disease.
I think that understanding the cause of Type I Diabetes is extremely important. All of the journals medical professionals write based on experiences and experiments with diabetic people are one step closer to finding the cause. The key factor in finding a cure for Diabetes is to directly link the cause to a specific aspect and use corrective treatment to reverse or prevent the disease from occurring.