Jesus Camp

While the directors of Jesus camp tried to stay neutral towards their subjects, there are some points at which they seem to suggest that the evangelical Christians are extremist and cultish, and that the children have been brainwashed. Some shots, such as one girl runnint out into the rain and shouting that she had to touch 10 drops of rain ten times before she turned 10, would normally be interpreted as a child playing. However, in the context of the film she and her family appear superstitious and extremist. This strengthens the preconceptions that many viewers are likely to hold towards evangelical Christians. The directors also chose to focus on some of the less logical parts of the religion and camp. For example, although one evangelical mother revealed that she was a creationist, little explanation was given to explain her belief. This allows viewers to assume more easily that she and other evangelicals are ignorant. By focusing on the emotional aspects of the religion in scenes such as the speaking in tongues, the directors gave less credence to the Evangelical Christians.

writing

My first step whenever writing a paper is to try to get a firm grasp on the topic. For timed writing assignments I am usually able to get a clear idea of the topic quite quickly. However, more extensive papers such as our Protest paper can take much more work before I can even begin preparing an outline. While doing research, I often try to consider viewpoints and frames that can support potential arguments. This not only allows me a chance to critically examine my own thoughts on the subject, but also allows me to begin organizing a potential outline in my mind. While I can usually see potential arguments while I research, some projects are more difficult. In these cases, I may be forced to take notes and try to organize points and potential arguments on paper.
Once my thesis is clear, I usually try to make some form of outline. While I can usually organize outlines for simple papers in my mind, more complicated ones may need to be put to paper. I usually try to make this part of the writing process take a short as possible it can sometimes take several hours. This was true for our protest paper, which took me quite a while to organize. However, the argument was no longer so complex that I had to write out an outline. Once I had a strong thesis statement the basic paper outline and supporting arguments were clear. I was able to write steadily for a few hours and write my paper without too much effort, since I new exactly what points I wanted to make and how I wanted the paper to flow. Afterwards I read through the paper once to make sure I hadn’t made any mistakes.