Introduction

This semester, I chose to explore the relationship between the Subject (the ego or "I") and the Object (the not-"I") as it manifests itself in language, politics, and psychiatric practices.

I first undertook this project in my photo essay. I used this piece to demonstrate the partiality of signs and the effect they have on individual perceptions. Per the requirements, I employed written as well as visual strategies. In the photos I took I alluded to various thinkers (Nietzsche, Derrida, and Descartes) and religious metaphors (i.e. from the book of Genesis) to illustrate that signs contain value judgments that are inextricable from individuals' experience of reality. This was the first writing assignment where the professor asked me to consider audience. By default, I chose my classmates as my audience, but my writing did not reflect this. Both the content and diction were inappropriate. It was also the first time that I considered visual strategies such as contrast and hue. I was more successful in this regard, and learned to express myself in ways I never considered before.

The writing component was more prominent in my visual rhetorical analysis, which focused on the Subject and the Other in political propaganda. In analyzing four pieces of American anti-Communist propaganda, I observed how the Subject, in order to maintain its hegemony, will project its negative qualities onto an Other. This was evident in the posters' portrayals of ethnic and gender minorities as vulnerable at the hands of the Soviet Union when it was, after all, American society that oppressed these groups. The Anglo-Saxon patriarchy exaggerated the Communist threat in order to extenuate domestic issues and unite its subjects in fear of a foreign enemy. In this assignment, I was able to observe the rhetorical strategies I used in crafting my photo essay in others' work; thus, I had a more sophisticated understanding of how visual texts were composed. At the same time, my paper lacked effective transitions (I merely started each body paragraph "with first piece, second selection," etc., meaning I did not establish any conceptual continuity), and I went off on an unnecessary in the conclusion (about Federalism and decentralized government).

I did not choose the topic of the third essay--my synthesis paper--which was, "work in the twenty-first century." It was significant, though, in providing information that I would allude to in my final research paper (I mentioned how the increasing competitiveness of the market pressured students to excel in school and earn college degrees, a factor that influenced the overdiagnosis of ADHD). The paper allowed me to refine my skills in writing synthesis papers that I first developed in my freshman year of high school. The only issues I had revolved around MLA format. In particular, I believe I italicized article titles when I should have used quotations.

The research paper is the culmination of all the work I have done this semester. My inquiry pertained to the validity of psychiatry, and whether it was not a vehicle of oppression that seeks to impose cultural uniformity. I did extensive research on the topic, and delved into far greater detail that I had to. The result was the longest paper I have written. I'm still not sure how exactly I feel about it. I selected graduate students as my audience, which was apt. When it came to the section on Heidegger, I wasn't sure if my examples were particularly helpful to the reader. I also mixed metaphors from different authors (Nietzsche's will to power, Baudrillard's simulacrum, Heidegger's Being, and Foucault's dividing practices), which may have led to obfuscation. Nonetheless, my organization improved, and I did my best to compose a conclusion that effectively summarized the paper and indicated the "next step," i.e. the practical use of my conclusions in psychotherapy. In reading Levinas for this paper, I discovered a new interpretation of the Subject and the Other that deepened my understanding of it; therefore, I can say that in the course of this semester, I learned more about the topic than I would have, and am all the more aware of its nuances and manifestations.