Hello internet! I'm Cayden and I use they/them pronouns. I never really know what defining features to identify to share when asked the age old "so tell me about yourself". I'm a first year here at the U and studying history. Someday, I'd like to be a professor or high school teacher, the most basic career path for a history major, I know. Outside of being a student here, I coach policy debate at a local high school, something which has fueled my love for working with students and especially teaching the historical contexts of modern events. In terms of media I enjoy, I'm a big fan of fantasy, like the Lord of the Rings (as seen in the background image above), The Witcher, and Game of Thrones. I love to both read and watch this type of media, I find that the more detailed world building a piece of media has, the more I can fall in love with the world.
Introduction
John Green incorporates memoir at several points in this chapter. One of the most prominent points occurs when he is reflecting upon his experience with labyrinthitis and the fear he experienced living with just his thoughts while in recovery.
The tool of research is used more sparingly throughout this chapter but is used to provide background context to the five-star review system. He explains that this tool was not common place until it because used for hotels in the 1970s and popular for books when Amazon introduced it.
Reflection is used throughout but one of the more prominent is when Green reflects upon how he wrote his novels Turtles All the Way Down and The Fault in Our Stars. He details how he tried to portray both OCD and cancer as not battles but as illnesses to try and live with, similar to his experience with labyrinthitis.
I'm very intrigued by his writing style as he jumps from one thought or story to the next, leaving just enough of a breadcrumb trail for the reader to follow to the bigger picture. I find it interesting how he positions himself in the reviews in comparison to how he wrote reviews for the majority of his life, as an objective bystander. I'm interested to see what the broader story he concludes throughout his reviews is and to try and follow the breadcrumb trail.
Lascaux Cave Paintings
The beginning of this passage is primarily memoir as Green recounts a memory from his own life when his children stenciled out their hands on paper. He thinks back that while he is grateful his kids have grown up, the papers are also a reminder that things have changed and they have also grown away from him.
This passage continues on into a more research heavy portion where Green depicts the story of the four boys who found the Lascaux cave paintings in France. He tells a story of four friends who were separated after one summer together where they and a dog named robot stumbled upon the cave and protected it dearly.
Finally, the passage concludes with the reflection element. He think back as to how it may seem like absurd Anthropocene behavior to have created a fake of ancient cave paintings for humans to go visit. However, he sees hope in this act as it shows humans have the ability to preserve the earth and the past rather than continually exploit it for their own gain. He finds the beauty in the preservation of the paintings in the same way one finds beauty in a memory one cannot return to.
I find the perspective of preserving past things without being able to observe or visit them very interesting. I think it is similar to the protection of wilderness areas where one might find a deep connection through visiting that place, but in reality, merely traveling there and existing there is causing a disruption in the serenity one seeks to find. Everest is a great example where people long to feel connected to the earth by summiting Everest but through climbing it, cause damage to the environment. I would love to go visit the replication caves someday and I agree with Green's rating.
Plague
Similar to the format of the previous entry on the "Lascaux Cave Paintings", this review follows a similar format of opening with a memoir element, then transitioning to research, and closing with a reflection. At the start, Green tells a story of when, during the pandemic, he tried to go and get his prescription filled. He describes how as a result of a phone conversation, he became known as "the perfect world guy".
After telling this story, he transitions on to describing his research into cholera in the 19th century and comparing different elements of this disease to the COVID pandemic. He covers the responses to isolation measures, the flight from cities, the blame marginalized groups faced, and the likelihood of the poor to die in comparison to the wealthier.
Towards the end, it switches towards reflection, much like the previous stories. He reflects upon how he tries to give himself credit and forgiveness for the choices he made when he was younger, like as a chaplain. He also reflects again at the very end when he thinks about his perspective on human suffering in comparison to others.
I find reading about a historical comparison to the most recent plague extremely interesting. Similar to many of the articles I read on the Spanish flu in the early 1900s, the plagues he compares here shows how the human response to such things has not changed much to plagues. I also think his comparisons to human suffering and the idea that things will get better is very comforting.
Text: Content & Form
The general premise is talking about the idea of the end of humans as a species and how he mentally thinks about this. He covers climate change, times when humans have been confident the world was going to end, and the human impact on other species. He concludes by reflecting upon the idea that humans will go extinct and how humans have caused harm but are beautiful in many ways.
I think the thing that caught my attention most was his description of all the things we have experienced in combination with the background music. I love the ending line, "in hope and in expectation, I give humanity's temporal range five stars".
I hear some music in the transitions between speech, beyond that it is primarily just John Green's voice. There is also some mood music/sound effects behind him, such as the classic space music while he is discussing the sun.
It's structured in a very similar way to many of the essays in the book. This is to say that it follows the same memoir, research, reflection format. He opens with remembering where he was at the turn of the millennium when everyone thought the world was going to end, then covers the science of species and climate change, and finally
Paratext
I used spotify.
There is a very brief sentence that just says "John Green reviews humanity's temporal range.
I didn't use a transcript
There were a few ads that were targeted for business owners.
There is the logo of Complexly and the podcast's logo on the album cover spot on Spotify.
Listening Environment and Experience
I listened to it outside sitting at a table.
I was skimming a book for my research looking for French names.
I listened to the podcast in one sitting.
I was listening to an audiobook while walking to the place I'm sitting.
I used my phone.
I used airpods.
Part 2
Listening to a text removes some of the mental construction of the world and sensory inputs from reading a text. When reading a story or an essay, it is up to the reader to determine the tones and pacing the author intended, read at one's own speed, and set their auditory surrounding they way they please. A listening experience shifts this control into the author's hands. They are able to select what the voices sound like, dictate the auditory surrounding through background music and sound effects, and control the pacing. In this sense, listening to something can be more immersive than reading something as you place more power into the author's hands. However, when doing so, if the author makes choices that make the media less valuable or attention grabbing to the consumer, it can ruin it. I listen to audiobooks quite frequently and I find that even if the writing style is amazing, if I simply don't enjoy the sound of the narrator's voice, I can't get into the book as much.
Policy Debate- I coach debate at the high school level and have been involved for several years so I feel like I have many thoughts on this.
Water bottles- The recent formation of water bottles as a status signal with things like the hydroflask in 2019/2020, nalgenes for hikers/climbers, and stanleys more recently. Beyond the purely functional aid that a water bottle provides of helping one stay hydrated, it has also become a social tool. People put stickers on them, chose which model based off of status over function, and adapt and shift with trends. A tool that is primarily used just for human survival has become a weapon of the capitalist consumer mindset.
School lockers- I never used one in high school but they are so classically American in films that it makes me wonder what their true purpose is. I also noticed that there are many of them in the basement of the West Bank. It's interesting to think that something I would have never actually used for free in high school is something people are choosing to pay money to access in college.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UFq0dURCx_Ztuip2mAcFMYCoa_haywZlDse8b2jLB7k/edit?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rtAqT-6tYvlsoXTGaW3rz0rXrfZChGfF/view?usp=sharing
When looking upon my first project, I think the strongest element of my writing process is the steps I take to go from an idea to a rough draft. I have a formula that I follow for basically all of my academic writing projects of writing down all of my thoughts in just a brainstorming list, then creating a bullet pointed outline of the structure, then turning that outline into a full draft. I think this process helps me handle bigger projects without getting overwhelmed when sitting down to start working on them. Within the product of the project itself, I'm proud of the connection I made to a bigger and broader system than just water bottles as a trend. I like bashing on capitalism and I think the connection here made sense which I'm proud of.
My biggest challenge when it came to the project was turning my rough draft into a final draft. I appreciated the few notes my peer edit partner gave me but I just was really struggling to identify how I wanted to change things even in places where I knew something had to change. I tried to navigate it by taking some time away from the project and coming back to it with a fresh set of eyes and reading it out loud to see how my brain wanted the sentence to naturally finish or transition.
I want to place more emphasis on tone and developing my own writing style. I would like to be able to write to different audiences in different styles more effectively than what I feel I can do right now. I think I occasionally have a good line or two in a work that convey this but I struggle to make it consistent throughout the whole piece.
I think one place I would really like help is in developing a deeper and more engaging writing style. Sometimes when I'm not describing complex concepts, I find my writing turns very elementary and boring and I don't know how to fix this. I also am really bad with grammar and have never learned any of the rules surrounding it so any help with that would also be greatly appreciated.
I feel as though I deserve an A- on this project. I think that I thoroughly engaged in the different assignments and class discussions that built up to this project and tried to then apply it to my final product. I really liked John Green's style of memoir, research, reflection which is a way of writing reviews I hadn't considered before so I tried to implement it in my own work. I also think that I followed a thorough writing process that allowed me time and space to develop the ideas fully without rushing through it. I also like the final product. I think that it conveys my feelings surrounding water bottles in a broader context than what the introduction originally hints at in a way that I am proud of. It isn't perfect however and I think I could have put more time into it and been a better student in class.
This podcast centers around the idea of a "food of the future". The proposed solution: bugs. However, both the podcast host, Rose Eveleth and the outside expert, Soleil Ho that they bring on to share their advice, think the idea of a food of the future is wrong from the jump. Soleil Ho is a food critic at the San Francisco Chronical as well as the host of their own podcast called Extra Spicy. They go through several different ways that bugs are eaten across the world, recognizing that the locations with cultural ties that have been eating bugs for an extended period of time are predominately first world countries located in the global south. However, many of those getting funds to try and bring bugs to the forefront of western grocery stories are wealthy white folks. The starting point of this conversation of a food of the future centers around a paper published in 2013 from the UN's food division. They walk through that many of the people being cited and involved in the conversation surrounding bugs are those who view it as some scientific solution to food insecurities rather than those who have been eating bugs for centuries. One author that Rose cites when discussing this phenomenon is Jahnavi Uppuleti who wrote for Vice on the roasted winged termites being eaten in India. They discuss how in some areas, bugs are viewed as a lower status symbol to eat, a food of poverty, where as in colonial powers, they are now being viewed as an affluent status symbol. Their overarching conclusion to the podcast is that the issues surrounding food insecurity are not going to be solved by some magical invention or food. Instead, it may be solved by addressing systemic and structural issues and distributing that plentiful amount of food already being produced on earth to those who need it.
"In the end, while cognition remains critical to effective writing, it is metacognition that endows writers with a certain control over their work, regardless of the situation in which they operate." -Howard Tinberg
The idea of cogniton on face value seems very simple, you know you know the thing. I've always been okay when it comes to writing, especially longer things, but I've also always been stuck in the same formats I'm comfortable with. This idea of metacognition or thinking about how what you know has come to be known in this way, creates a broader understanding of how my writing gets produced. In thinking about how I go about my process, from brainstorming to outline to drafts to the final product, I'm able to find the holes far easier. This idea make me appreciate being in a class that forces me to go beyond the narrow categories of writing I've previously been stuck in.
"Should I buy the boots?"
The current clothing industry has been increasingly shifting towards fast fashion over the last few decades. This has resulted in cheap, disposable products that last for far fewer uses and contribute more to the environmental degradation from the fashion industry. The question opens up two key concepts, the first being how can one individual act more sustainably in relation to their clothing purchases and the second being why it is easier to save money on purchases when one is rich. Relating this to one speciifc pair of boots, it is easier to see that there is a vast array of price points for boots on the market and buying the cheapest pair might seem like the obvious choice. However, these boots will likely last for far fewer wears, contributing to the waste of materials and forcing the owner to spend money on a new pair, losing money in the long term.
Sources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2023/01/02/the-state-of-sustainability-in-the-fashion-industry-and-what-it-means-for-brands/?sh=5ffa5e551c82, The State Of Sustainability In The Fashion Industry (And What It Means For Brands)
https://truthout.org/articles/fast-fashion-is-unsustainable-what-could-a-slow-fashion-industry-look-like/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAlcyuBhBnEiwAOGZ2SyBUFa3WSZa0De9MorrWk2R5IA47pRp5Y5CfPIXwSyfLynEOEkvJSxoCjTYQAvD_BwE - What could a “slow fashion industry" look like?
https://www.netguru.com/blog/fashion-industry-trends-2030#:~:text=Sustainability%20and%20ethical%20practices%20will,sourcing%20to%20meet%20these%20expectations, What Will the Fashion Industry Look Like in 2030?
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/fashion/fast-fashion-sustainable-clothing.html- an individuals impact on it
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/sustainability/fast_fashion#:~:text=Waste%20occurs%20at%20every%20stage,of%20global%20carbon%20dioxide%20emissions., Why is the clothing industry not sustainable?
https://www.worldcleanupday.org/post/fast-fashion-is-destroying-our-planet-what-you-can-do-Ways an individual can help
Making Fashion Sustainable - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7380204/
I have chosen to interview my mom (unsure on if it will be in person or over the phone). She has recently decided not to purchase any new clothing for the next two years (except undergarments). She has done this because she feels as though she already has plenty of clothes and recognizes the environmental impact clothing and fast fashion can have. Beyond this, she has always been a major advocate of buying clothes second hand. I feel as though she would be a great individual to interview in regards to how she does the most she can while recognizing she is just one person engaging with a vast system.
Should I buy these shoes?
The fashion industry has been quickly shifting towards a more disposable and rapid format in the last several decades. As clothing trends continue to change at a faster pace, companies producing cheap, low quality and harmful products have been on the rise. Being an individual consumer, it is easy to feel helpless when faced with the massive consequences of the fashion industry which contributes to over 10% of the global carbon dioxide emissions (Feldstein). Beyond this, buying more expensive and sustainable clothing can often be cheaper in the long run as one does not have to replace it as many times, but this is frequently inaccessible to many. This paper will explore a variety of sources documenting the impact that one individual can have on the fashion industry, why the fast fashion trends are so harmful to the environment, and hear from one individual who made a pledge not to buy any new clothing for a year.
Bibliography
Bringé, Alison. “Council Post: The State of Sustainability in the Fashion Industry (and What It Means for Brands).” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 2 Jan. 2023, www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2023/01/02/the-state-of-sustainability-in-the-fashion-industry-and-what-it-means-for-brands/?sh=5ffa5e551c82.
This article describes how consumers have increasingly been placing importance upon sustainability and the ethical values of the fashion companies they are purchasing from. It describes how it is no longer a minor trend but instead is shifting the campaigns and strategies of companies, providing examples such as Levi and Patagonia. This indicates how an individual can help shape the market not just through their own sustainable choices but through the value their money holds as a tool to shift sustainable practices. In regards to the specific question of “Should I buy these boots?” the example provided of Patagonia which sells more expensive products but pushes customers to wear them for a lifetime could be useful. It could provide a calculus for determining if a cheaper or more expensive and long-lasting pair of boots are worth it.
Feldstein, Stephanie. “At What Cost? Unraveling the Harms of the Fast Fashion Industry.” At What Cost? Unravelling the Harms of the Fast Fashion Industry, www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/sustainability/fast_fashion#:~:text=Waste%20occurs%20at%20every%20stage,of%20global%20carbon%20dioxide%20emissions. Accessed 5 Mar. 2024.
Identifying why sustainable fashion is a goal worth addressing is crucial. This article provides some staggering statistics that identify the cost that fast fashion and consumption based clothing has. It contributes to over 10% of the global carbon dioxide emissions, which is more than air and maritime travel combined, damages water resources at every step in the production, and results in labor exploitation and human rights violations. It provides crucial justifications for why the question is worth addressing in the first place.
Felix, Kwolanne. “Fast Fashion Is Unsustainable. What Could a ‘Slow’ Fashion Industry Look Like?” Truthout, Truthout, 25 July 2023, truthout.org/articles/fast-fashion-is-unsustainable-what-could-a-slow-fashion-industry-look-like/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAlcyuBhBnEiwAOGZ2SyBUFa3WSZa0De9MorrWk2R5IA47pRp5Y5CfPIXwSyfLynEOEkvJSxoCjTYQAvD_BwE.
This analysis of the current fashion industry provides a more systemic analysis, recognizing the larger systems at play like capitalism and by extension that the drive for infinite growth holds more power than an individual. It describes that a degrowth and slow fashion industry are necessary for actual sustainable fashion which is not something that one individual could cause. It also acknowledges that it is more expensive to be buying longer lasting products and also can exclude certain individuals like plus-size people who rely on fast fashion for clothing that slow markets ignore. It does lay out a helpful picture of what the world could look like under sustainable fashion.
Friedman, Vanessa. “Can I Buy Fast Fashion and Not Feel Guilty?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 May 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/fashion/fast-fashion-sustainable-clothing.html.
This article does an excellent job at explaining how it can be more expensive to be unable to buy more pricey clothing. It breaks things down by cost per wear, explaining that if one buys a cheap shirt but only gets say two uses out of it, that will be more expensive to replace in the long term than buying a more expensive product that one could get over ten uses out of. It also explains that for many consumers, buying sustainable clothing is simply not within the budget. Longer lasting and more sustainable products are not produced on a large scale which drives up the prices. The best solution this article provides is simply to ensure one is getting the most number of wears possible out of every article of clothing, regardless of if it is a cheap or expensive product.
Komazova, Iryna. “Fast Fashion Is Destroying Our Planet: What You Can Do.” World Cleanup Day Blogpost, 29 Sept. 2022, www.worldcleanupday.org/post/fast-fashion-is-destroying-our-planet-what-you-can-do.
Providing solutions that an individual can access is a crucial part of this project. This article walks through what is and isn’t helpful in terms of addressing this problem. It explains why there is a general misconception that donating clothing is the time prevention tool for contributing to the waste cycle of clothes. It also encourages consumers to buy less, find ways to repurpose clothes, give clothes away online and to friends, and think critically about what clothes they are choosing to donate.
Smith, Aynsley. Personal Interview. 3/6/2024. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HFGttCGwwGHRLeHIDCi42Ni0OKC5r92G/view?usp=sharing
In this interview, I talked with my mother who recently made the decision to abstain from buying any new clothing for two years, exempting undergarments and running shoes. She describes how she got her inspiration for this decision, referencing the movie “The Monster in Our Closet” by Patagonia which informed her of the environmental consequences of the fast fashion industry. From there, she decided to reflect upon what she could do as an individual and came to this decision. She also discusses what she does to feel motivated as one individual in the face of a broader systemic issue and the forms of legislation and broader solutions she would like to see in the future.
Outline
Intro
Why is the question worth asking?
Damage to the environment
10% of all CO2 emissions (Feldstein)
Ethical violations
Feeling helpless as an individual (Felix)
What can an individual do?
Buy sustainable clothing
Difficulty of it being more expensive but cheaper in the long run
Wear clothing for longer
Be aware of what one is supporting with their money
Paragraph 1- How has fast fashion turned into this?
Has evolved from being localized, sustainable production of high quality garments
Local shop owners would specialize in made-to-order clothing that cost more but was intended to be worn for far longer, like tailored suits, dresses, hats, and shoes (Felix)
Is a result of the system of capitalism and increasing globalization- hard for an individual to tackle by themselves
Cheaper to purchase goods from overseas where labor exploitation keeps the prices down
Interconnectedness means trends change and evolve quicker, placing items out of style faster (Felix)
The drive to maximize profits means sacrificing quality and ethics
Paragraph 2- What are the consequences of fast fashion?
Environmental
10% of all global carbon dioxide emissions, more than maritime and air travel combined (Felix)
Harmful to water- takes a lot to produce the fabrics and a lot to harvest the materials
Ends up in landfills, synthetic fibers almost never break down and instead pile up (Komazova)
Things like the floating trash island and many East Asian countries are strapped with the burden.
Ethical
The only way to produce clothing for as cheap as many companies are is through labor exploitation
Companies like Shien and Zara are continually facing allegations of underpaying their workers and forcing them to work in unsafe conditions
All of these present major ethical concerns as the majority of factories producing these clothes are in East Asia while the West often buys most of them, replicating the exploitative practices reminiscent of imperialism.
Paragraph 3- What can an individual do about it?
Wear clothing for longer periods of time
Aynsley Smith recognized that one of the most important ways to reduce environmental degradation is by simply wearing clothing for longer
Thus, she decided she wasn’t going to buy new clothing for a year and instead prioritized finding new ways to use the clothes she already had
Most clothing only gets worn around 7 times (Friedman) so wearing clothing more times can reduce the consumption patterns
Buy sustainable clothing
It is more expensive but buying from ethical and preferably local brands can help reduce exploitation and ensure that the materials being used are not doing as much damage to the environment
This can shape companies, Levi and Patagonia both shifted their strategies to produce more expensive but sustainable clothing due to consumer reports (Bringé)
Paragraph- So should I buy these boots?
It may be more expensive
Buying a nice, more durable pair of boots is often more expensive
One can easily find a cheap pair of boots at target for under 50$ but the chances that these last through more than one Minnesota winter is very low
Instead, investing in a higher quality pair may be more up front but they will last for longer
It is cheaper to be rich
Having the ability to buy a more expensive items up front can be cheaper in the long term
Committing to one 50$ t-shirt that will last for years is going to be less expensive per wear in the long run than a 10$ shirt that has to get replaced every 6 months.
This can make buying those boots less accessible for the average consumer
Conclusion
What can one do about it?
Buy the expensive boots that will last for longer
Wear sustainable clothing
Re-wear clothing one already has purchased
Be conscious of what companies one is supporting
Why does it matter?
Fast fashion is destroying the environment
Contributing to massive amounts of water pollution and climate change
It is also causing ethical and labor violations, continuing the power dynamics of imperialism
Self Assessment-
I greatly enjoyed working on Project 2 as I have been very passionate on the effects of fast fashion for several years now. I feel that I worked hard on gathering a variety of sources, encompassing different perspectives and elements of fast fashion. I covered the environmental and labor consequences, as well as what can be changed by an individual and what needs to be addressed on a systemic level. I also have developed a very thorough process for writing out essays, starting with a research document and compiling notes. From there, I transition into a short outline where I identify the overarching topic of each paragraph. Following that, I go through and outline a more in depth version of each paragraph, identifying the main points I plan on covering with in the paragraph. I think that I deserve an A for my work on this project.