Last Post of the Year!!!!! Memorial Events!

Overall, I liked this class and I thought I have learned a lot. I did not know much about analysing pictures and moving images before this class. I thought this class taught me that vary well and I do not know if I will look at a movie the same way without at least thinking that it could be analysed. The assignment I liked the most in the class was the movie clip analysis.

I liked the movie clip analysis the most because it was kind of fun to do. If a person has to do work, I think that that person will be able to get much more work done if it is something he/she is interested in. What I am trying to say is that we were able to pick a movie or clip that we liked and than we wrote about it. It was like this for many assignments (which I liked), but it stuck out most in this one because I loved the movie that I choose to analysis. I also believe that this class had a lot of interesting discussions.

The class did a lot of teacher-students discussions. I enjoyed a lot of these because some of the topics brought up were interesting. Also, some of these topics were fun to talk about in class and it was interesting to see what the teacher and the other students talked about. All in all, I thought this was a fun and interesting class where I learned a lot and had some fun doing it.

Superheroes

One of the most interesting topics of last class period was superheroes. The presentation showed the audience the differences in superheroes and why people look up to them. I believe there are multiple types of superheroes. The first kind is of the fantasy variety.

In today's world, there are all sorts of cartoons and comics about superheroes. These heroes are imaginary, but they still are entertaining. Some people see these kind of heroes as giving their children false hope. There is no way their child will be able to fly in the future. Others see them as the exact opposite. That is, they see them as hope in a world that has a lot of evil in it. This is some of the impact of "fantasy" heroes on world. The next kind of hero that will be talked about is the celebrity hero.

There are many popular people seen as heroes. Many sport athletes fall under this category. A football player scoring the winning touchdown at the Superbowl could be seen as a hero by many. Other heroes that are popular are actors and actresses. People look up to what they do and even mimic them in many situations. So one can see how celebrities can be classified under heroes. One final category that is considered a hero are the common people.

Sometimes, the common people are seen as superheroes. They could do something outstanding and a lot of people will look up to them for it. The main thing that classifies a common person as a hero is if they save a life or multiple lives. A fireman saving a child in a burning house is most certainly classified as a hero. Army forces defending our country can be seen as heroes also. The main point of this blog was to show that there are a variety of heroes in our world. The main thing is that a hero is defined according to perspective. That is, a person defines what he/she sees as a hero. So no matter who you are in life, there is a good chance that you will have some sort of hero.

In Response to Media's Revealing Coverage of Women.

In a presentation last week, Clay Cloutier discussed a topic that caught my eye. He told the class about how companies used half naked women to sell their products. Then Clay went on to talk about how all these commercials can be degrading and can set a scale for how a woman is suppose to look.

I tend to agree with Clay on these points. Women have such high expectations in today's world. All the revealing commercials send out the wrong message. It makes women fell that they have to be a certain height or weight to be excepted in this world. This can also lead to depression or other illnesses if a woman can not reach these "required" goals. I have heard of many cases of women dieting and even forming eating disorders because they want to lower their waist size. It is one thing to lose some weight, but it is another to wither a way to a shadow because of how some girl looks on television. It seems like common girls look at these beautiful, thin women and believe they have to be like that in order to get a husband someday. They have raise the expectation level too high which has had bad consequences. Many people believe that something should be done about the half naked women that are a daily part of the world's life.

People believe that there should be ads that show the world "ordinary women." That is why we saw those Dove commercials in class. They have advertisements that show how unrealistic these half naked women are and they also have commercials that support the average women. These commercials will let women know that they do not absolutely "need" a certain weight and height. These kinds of commercials could change the world as we know it. If more of these come out, it will slowly start taking over the half naked women commercials. This could result with less eating disorders and even less depression. These commercials are a step in the right direction. It should be interesting to see what will happen in the future.

presentation responses!

The speakers were all pretty good for the first day of presentations. They all seemed to have something good in mind to talk about for their projects. They seem to be on the right path and their presentations were pretty good. The one that was the most interesting was the peer-to-peer file sharing.

In this presentation, the student talked about the positives and negatives of sharing music. It is really interesting to me because I like music and I have file shared before. Her points were strong and she seemed to back them up with some good evidence. She talked about Napster, which caught my attention because I remember a lot about Napster. Then she introduced a company known as the RIAA which intrigued me because I have never heard of such an organization. She went on to explain that they were the people trying to get rid of all the file sharing programs and they wanted the music industry to be back like it used to be. This meant that a person would have to go by the CD at a store or not have any music at all. She also explained that the RIAA was the organization suing all these file sharing programs and they are the reason why many are going out of business. All in all, I liked every presentation, but this one stuck out the most for me because it is a big part in daily life today.

wikipedia - Good or Bad Source?

Wikipedia is seen as both a good and a bad source. It can be a good source when there is reliable data that supports their claims. If someone posts something and his statement is supported by an expert in the thing he is arguing, there is a good chance that it would be a reliable source. Another thing that Wikipedia can be a good source of is "common knowledge." They have definitions and other things that most people will know. If, by chance, a person does not know for some reason, they could look it up on Wikipedia and it would probably be reliable data. Wikipedia has some good points, but it can also be seen as a bad source.

Wikipedia allows anyone to post anything on their website. This can cause problems when dealing with credible sources. It is easy to say that something is true, but it can be hard to actually prove it is true. That is what makes Wikipedia a "bad" source. It is because they can have random people saying random things. These "things" may or may not be true. The only way a person knows it is a credible source is if the person sites other credible sources in his paper. If someone is bias, they can write a completely false paper on Wikipedia. This is why Wikipedia can be bad and why college students probably should not be allowed to use it for their papers.

In the end, I believe that Wikipedia does provide some good things, but it mainly a unreliable source. It can help point a person in the right direction, but with all the bias people and people who just "think they are right," it is hard to be called a reliable source. There is not enough evidence in most papers to prove that the information provided can be trusted.

IS MULTITASKING MORE EFFICIENT? SHIFTING MENTAL GEARS COSTS TIME, ESPECIALLY WHEN SHIFTING TO LESS FAMILIAR TASKS!

http://www.apa.org/releases/multitasking.html This is an article that I found on Google off the Internet. It explains how multitasking works in the brain and how efficient it can be. In my project, I can use this for the "older generation" argument and then try to refute it which would make my argument much better. I also can throw in some scientific information about how multitasking works in the brain to give the audience an idea of what your body goes through when a person multitasks. This multitasking article seems to be a pretty reliable source.

The source was found off a Google website, but there seems to be some professional experts who produced the information for this article. The article is a ".org" which already hints that it is a more suitable source then say a ".com". The article also seems to come from a special organization of scientists who have run experiments and tested some results. The scientists seem to be psychologists and the article even states that the "APA" is pretty highly used organization that provides scientific research. it states:

"The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 155,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 53 divisions of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting human welfare."

This is very helpful support in judging if the article is reliable. If only a few scientists were apart of this organization or none at all, the article would not be nearly as reliable. Another point that helps support that the article has good information is the date it was put out.

The article was made on August 5, 2001, which is fairly recent. The article is only six years old which probably makes it still reliable. The information might be starting to get old and other ideas could have been proven by now, but it still pretty new and has a good possibility of being the same thing argued today. The older an article is, the less reliable it is. Data and ideas change throughout the years. People believe one thing at one point of time and something completely different five years later. It all depends on the knowledge people receive and how it is used to prove something. If an idea is not proven, it can not be a "true" idea. It is still a theory that could be completely wrong. either which way, the more new an article is, the better chance it is of being a reliable source.

All in all, I believe this source is pretty reliable. It does not help my paper to much, but it post strong points which are supported by professionals. The facts help my paper, but the downsides of multitasking hurts my paper. The opposing side could help my paper, though, if I can find some data that can oppose their views.

idiocracy

The theme of idiocracy was rather interesting to me. I never thought of "humanity becoming stupider" as the movie clearly points out. The people of my generation do watch a lot of movies that revolve around people doing dumb things. He makes interesting points like the "dumber" people reproducing more than the "smarter" people because they forget to use birth control and such. The society gets to the point that the average IQ is really low and that a regular person today is a genius in the future. I believe Mike Judge is posing a strong and intriguing point, but there are some flaws. For one, there are still plenty of smart people who reproduce just fine. Another example is that some smart people watch "dumb" movies to broaden their horizons. One final reason is that people just find it entertaining. Movies do not affect the human society as much as the movie suggests. Lots of smart people watch movies like this for their personal entertainment. These people act nothing like the people on the film though. They still are smart and still talk in a highly intellectual way. All in all, I think that Mike Judge makes some very interesting claims. They are fun to think about and his movie was very entertaining. I liked his ideas, but most of them do not seem plausible to me. I just can not see the human race getting that dumb. There will always be smart people on this earth, even if they think "dumber" things are entertaining.

Would it be a good thing if you could view just the good parts?!

Seeing only the good parts of a text can be a good and bad thing. In a certain sporting events, it can be a good thing. If a person is not particularly interested in a sport, but he/she still likes seeing the points scored during the game, that person can watch the highlight reels. This will save that person time and he will get to see what he/she wants to. A way that seeing only the good parts can be bad though is a person watching a sporting event that they are really interested in.

If one is really intrigued by a sport, that person should want to see every little play. They should know all the terms and all of the penalties. If they see all the plays, they can distinguish great plays, from amazing plays. They are not actually watching there sport if they just look at the good parts. Movies have a similar approach in the way that seeing only the good parts can be good and bad.

Seeing only the good parts in movies a person is not particularly interested in could be a good thing. If they think the movie was OK, but it had unnecessary scenes and that it was too long, seeing only the good parts can be a really good thing. Although there are some good points, there can be a lot more bad points seen in only watching the good parts in a movie.

If people start only watching the good parts, they will eventually forget what the bad parts were like. If a person only sees the good parts of movies, how can they compare it to the bad parts. A person can not compare something like this if there is no bad parts to compare. So seeing the bad parts of movies make the good parts even better because a person can compare the two and realize how much better a particular scene is then another. Also, in this same kind of topic, a person could then choose their favorite movie better. If people only see the good things in movies, a lot of movies would be similar and it would be hard to choose a favorite. With seeing everything in a movie, a person can easily tell which movies are bad, and which movies are good. This should limit there choice of their favorite movie and also make that movie even better. A person will know how hard another person has worked on that film, since it is so good. That same person will know how poorly someone worked on a bad movie. All in all, movies are better when a person can see the whole thing rather than just the good parts.

Visual Culture and Audience.

Multitasking is a big part of the new generations. It was not such a giant success in the previous generation though. They criticize children and people of the younger generation for doing several tasks at once. Their argument is that younger generations can not completely focus on one task. Therefore, they can not produce an efficient outcome of any one task. The younger generation has it's own argument though.

Younger generations argue that we are just adapting to a fast past environment and learning how to do many tasks efficiently at once. Since I am part of the younger generation, I share this view that humans adapt and become more efficient. The more time goes by, the smarter the children get and the more abilities they possess. Younger children will eventually be able to multitask and do several things more efficiently then the older generation could do with one specific thing. This is why things keep improving and more stuff is invented. People are getting smarter and are adapting. All in all, Multitasking is a concept that will just get better and better as generations go on.

Visual Culture can affect an audiences views towards one another and their view of themselves. Some women are a very good example of this. They see attractive women on TV and in movies and they compare themselves and others to them. They may say that if they are not wearing some sort of clothing, they are not going to be hot. This affects how women dress. Visual Culture can do something like this for guys though too. Guys will see other "buff" guys on TV or in a movie and want to be like them. They will see that they get the girls because of how strong they are. As a result, a lot of guys exercise and work out to try to get there bodies like the ones they see in a Visual Culture. These are just some of the basic claims made for both genders. They are some that specify certain areas of a person's personality, but those will be discussed on a later date. Right now, the goal was to show people that Visual Culture affects all sorts of people. Young and old, male or female, black or white, etc. Visual Media affects all these various audiences.

Analysis helping me with the next assignments.

The analysis talked about in class is helping me in all my visual assignments that I have to do for class. I now know what to look for in my clip. I can compare "Little Miss Sunshine" to what ever visual picture I want. I am probably going to choose some sort of movie for my next assignment.

The movie will either be really funny or really serious because those are the types of movies I like. I will probably choose either a clip from "Gladiator" or a section of a movie like "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Both movies have plenty of rhetorical devices and they have lots of things to be analyzed. I will most likely use all the techniques we learned in class to help me with this assignment.

I will use the lighting, sounds, montage, and many other devices in my paper to properly analyze it. I will notice if the light is artificial or natural. This will probably depend on the scene. If the scene can be shot in natural light, they will probably will, otherwise they will use artificial light. Sounds can be distinguished simultaneously with the lighting.

Sounds are just as important as lights. Music is huge in movies. It gives the audience emotion. I good example of this is horror movies. The music supplies suspense. There are plenty of things a director can do with music to make a movie better. It all depends on their taste. Background noise is also noticed in movies. In "little miss sunshine," the audience could hear dishes in the background. This works well with the lights and other devices to make it sound like an ordinary day in an ordinary home. Montage, like sound, is another device used in movies that can be analyzed.

The montage is noticed in many movies, including "Little Miss Sunshine." They used the speeding up and slowing done of cut scenes throughout the clip we saw in class. This is just one form of montage. Some movies have many cuts, where as others have much fewer. It just depends how the director wants to use it in his movie. Cut scenes are also used to avoid cameras. If they did not cut scenes, a person could see all of the cameras in a scene, which would rune the aspect of them "being in the movie." All of these things I have learned in class (esp. all of the things about "Little Miss Sunshine") and they will all be very beneficial in my next assignment.

Me, as an analytical movie viewer and what analysis has done for me.

I am not a very good analytical movie viewer. I rarely notice things in movies. I usually get really into movies. They are my escape from the real world. If I do not want to think about the day, I usually just pop in a movie and relax. I follow the storyline and usually do not pay much attention to the analytical parts of the movie. Every once in a while, I will see that lighting is being used or that music is making a scene better, but that is about it. There are rare occasions when I do think about movies analytically though.

On these uncommon days, I will choose a movie and analysis it. I always decide to analysis the movie before I put it in. I will pay close attention to the lighting and music throughout the movie. I will notice when the music is very important in a scene and also when light is very important. I sometimes even realize how many cuts are taking place in a particular scene. I notice when there is a ton and when there are a few and I think some spots they need more cuts while others they need less. The use of props throughout the movie is also observed. There are many props throughout all movies. On these rare occasions, I think of most of these ideas throughout the movies, but this really does not happen often. I really should pay more attention to the analysis of movies because a person gains a different type of knowledge analyzing them.

A person can learn things from watching and analyzing moving visual media. One can learn how good the movie was made. They can also realize how much effort a director put into a movie. If a person is lost in the movie, they probably did a good job. If a person notices all the above analysis devices without trying, then they most likely did a bad job. A person then can also decide what could have made the movie better. They could know a spot were music should have been added or when it should have been a different song playing in a spot. They could know when different props and coloring/lighting needed to be used. All in all, movie visual media can teach a person a lot of things. If it is not just expanding one's knowledge, then it can at least make a person know when they are or are not watching a poorly put together movie.

analytical viewer of moving media.

I would say that I am not that good of an analytical viewer of moving media. When I am watching TV, or a videotape, or a DVD, I usually am trying to relax. I am not focusing on the "outside" things of that movie. TV is my worse for analytical viewing.

When I watch TV, I am not always actually "watching" TV. I usually flip it on, out it on a channel I like, then go on and do other things. It is more of a background sound. When I actually "watch" TV, I usually still do not anaylize the moving medium. I just am watching it to relax. Once in a great while, though, I will catch something like the sound increasing, or a change of lighting. Just like TV, I am also not really good at analyzing videotapes.

Videotapes are hard for me to analyize. They are fun to watch, but I am usually caught up on what is going on. I am so focus that it is like I am actually there. I do analyize moving media a little better with videotapes though. Sometimes ill catch the camera movie or cut shots taking place. Videotape is easier to anaylize then TV for me, but DVDs are the easiest.

Out of all of these media, I pay attention to moving anaylisis during DVDS the most. This is still not a great number though. I usually am still focused on the medium and got lost in their world, but sometimes, it is different. If I have seen a DVD before, sometimes ill watch it again. When I do this, I occasionally look for these kinds of anaylisis. I will watch for cut scenes, look for lighting, notice the effect with sound, and realize the different things taking place. So, by far, DVDs are the easiest for me to anaylize, but I am still not good at it. I so gain somethings from anaylizing this stuff though.

First of all, I feel as though I am smarter. It gives me a sense that I have accomplish something. It also gives me a source of power because if I notice something, I am usually thinking something along the lines of "Ha, you didn't trick me, I heard the music and know why it had such a great effect." All in all, all these media can be great sources of analysis. A person can gain a lot of information about a movie and how it is made by just watching for these analytical elements. I may have to start anaylizing different medias harder in the future,

cd covers with words

For this next blog, I choose to compare three different CD covers. These covers have all sorts of different styles that prove useful for different audiences. They also have various ways of luring people in. One of the biggest lures is the genre they our supporting.

Britney spears obviously is in the genre of pop music. That means that people who like pop music will automatically at least consider giving their attentions to it. Just like Britney Spears applies to a certain genre, so do GWAR and Foreigner. GWAR is in between hard rock and a metal genre, where as Foreigner applies to classic rock. All of these bands will attract different audiences because of their different types of genres. Genre is not the only means of persuasiveness provided though. The colors on the covers also will help decide their persuasiveness.

Certain colors attract different people. The one thing that all of these CD covers have in common is that they will not attract little children because they do not have bright colors. Britney Spears and GWAR will probably attract a teenage crowd because they have some semi-bright colors. The black that sticks out in Britney's Cd cover is not to dull, but it is not really bright. GWAR's picture has the bright red, but since they do not use a lot of it, it mainly sticks out to the teenage crowd. The dull colors in the Foreigner Cd sticks out to older people. Just as the colors provided different types of persuasion, so does the images themselves.

The images will attract various kinds of people. Brittney Spears has her beauty on the cover. This will attract girls because girls long for a sense of beauty. In a way, though, it can also attract boys. Some boys may like the way she looks, which could persuade their attention towards the cover. The GWAR cover obviously supports a different crowd. They show swords and different weapons that can result in action. This usually appeals more to guys then girls. Their use of violent images will not attract to many super young or old people. They attract the teenagers and some adults though. Journey's images are all composed of words which persuades an older crowd. Younger people usually like images over words and older people tend to like words over images. Words, like pictures, can also provide various persuasions to different people.

Every band have different forms of words that persuade different audiences. Some bands use lots of words, where as others use none. GWAR and Britney Spears use little words, which will persuade the younger crowd. They judge Cds more on pictures and artists rather than words. Foreigner's Cd, on the other hand, would probably attract an older crowd. It's images our made out of words and even some of the letters in these words have other words or symbols in them. The various text shown in this picture would persuade an older crowd. These Cd's have several various persuasive techniques and they all work and different ways.

Magazine Cover!

I choose this magazine cover because it supplied some interest to me and it also stuck out. The magazine is entitled as a "NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC" magazine. This is an on going serious of magazines that talks about real world issues. Most, if not all, of the magazine's topics are about very serious matters (including wars, economic struggles, foreign troubles, etc). This picture stuck out to me because it is a picture about a previous war, which is the Gulf War.

The lady is a very key aspect in the picture. From her non-verbal expressions, the audience can tell that she looks very scared. The way her face is set and the bulging of the eyes gives the audience this impression. The audience is reinforced in this idea that she is scared through the text on the magazine.

The words on the magazine say, basically, that many Afghanistan civilians and refuges are scared. This is in smaller print which looks like it might be less important then the larger print on the left. This print talks about "Afghanistan's War--torn Frontier." This will tell the audience why the women on the cover, along with the rest of the Afghanistan civilians, are scared. It will also give the reader information on the war. The cover might suggest a sort of bias for a side in the war.

The women on the cover looked scared, and she is suppose to represent the Afghanistan civilians. If this is true, the cover might be bias towards an anti-war magazine. They might be suggesting that the efforts are futile and that the United States of America is making these people scared. It also might add that they are losing lives that were exactly necessary, or something along those lines. This kind of magazine will appeal to an older audience.

Children usually do not want to know about wars and deaths at their age. This kind of magazine usually appeals to older people who are interested in politics and wars. The colors are not bright colors and would not stick out for a kid. But this is not to say that it is not colorful. It has a variety of dull/not bright colors that might appeal to an older crowd. The last thing that should be talked about in this cover is the medium use of text.

There are not a lot of words, but there also is not just a couple. The magazine wants to give the reader a good variety of things that it is going to cover, but not all. It leaves them on the edge a little. It might catch their attention and then they would have to read it to get the details. It says just enough information to give the audience basic concepts of the magazine, without giving the entire magazine away. All in all, I thought this magazine cover was interesting and it supplied could imagery along with decent text which will attract an audience.

war/dead poeple photo

I found this image at postsecret.com and I found it interesting. At first, the observer sees the field of dead people, which they then can assume that a war or struggle of some kind has taken place. The more interesting part is the words up at the top of the image though. The person portrays the news as a source that always talks about dead people and it could "spoil" a person's day. The image has no color at all which I also find interesting. This points out that it is to a older crowd. There is no bright colors that would attract a kid. It is also towards an audience of serious viewers. This is not a comical matter. The author is trying to make a point that the news is full of death and it spoils his/her day. One would have to assume that it is real dead people that the author was talking about because if he/she used this for everything, he/she could not watch most television or movies knowing that people die in them (even though it is not in a real sense). The news may be full of "dead people" but this should not spoil his/her day. What if it is of someone important like a president's death or a death of someone she/he knows. Wouldn't he/she want to know who died then? Just because the news has a lot of death stories doesn't mean that a person should not watch it. It could have important information that could be used later on in life. All in all, I guess the picture just stuck out to me because I like to know who is dead or alive and the picture makes the news look like a super bad place when, in reality, it is not.

playskool holidays

The Playskool image that is provided offers several kinds of persuasion and can lure kids and adults with its rhetorical devices. The Playskool advertising image is very bright and colorful. The red background draws people's attention to the picture. The background also has stars on it, which is associated with the caption at the bottom. This brings out the point even further that kids wish for these toys, and they need them to be successful in the future. This goes along with the idea that kids wish upon stars, just like in fairy tales. All the children in the pictures are smiling and having fun. Their smiles will draw in little kids because they will want to have fun, just like the children on the advertisement. The children have something else in the picture with them, or are wearing something that is associated with the caption. This association shows that Playskool is trying to sell gifts to parents for their children by showing them how happy their children could be in the future. Playing with these toys can prepare children for future successes (so it seems). A person's focus goes straight to the center of the ad where the pictures are, which makes the photos most important. The caption at the bottom rhymes, which also attracts an audience. Rhymes can often be catchy and lure people in. People often get songs or different things like rhymes stuck in their head. It is a good advertising devise and it can often draw in a customer.

pic analysis: in and out of class.

In our groups in class, we discussed and analyzed certain pictures and text. This was the picture my group decided upon and we found it on Google images under happiness. It is a comical pictures in many ways. It has a funny looking character being happy in the image. So this already points to laughter, but what really makes it even more comical is the text written on the page below it. It asks the question, what is a happiness curve? Then it describes all different ways of calling a person fat. They mentioned beer belly, big belly, breadbasket, etc. They use all sorts of comical terms to express the happiness curve. The picture itself also has a sense of irony. It is saying that people are happy when they are bigger and they like being this way. Most people like this that I know are happy, but they still do not like their "happiness curve." All in all, I think that this is a comical image that provides different sorts of rhetoric to draw attention to it.

Photographs and Knowing People.

A picture of someone does give others a sense of knowing that person. People often will have pictures of themselves playing a sport or doing something they enjoy, which does give the audience a sense of who that person is. When we see the activity the person is doing, we know the an activity that that person enjoys and is apart of their life. On the other hand, we seem to give these people stereotypes. A person will classify others, which can much often be wrong. For example, a person could be playing a sport like hockey. Somebody might think this person might also like golf because hockey players are often associated with playing golf on their days off. This might not be the case at all. Another example is a person thinking another person in a photo has a certain background because of the picture. If a person sees a photo of a family near a beat up home, they might assume that that person is poor because of the beat up home. In all actuality, that person could be very rich. They could be visiting a friend, or it could be their second or even third house. So even though pictures do give us a sense of a person, we do not know for sure who the person is. Until someone actually meets the person in the picture, they can not know that person, they can just make educated guesses about them.

Tourists and Cameras.

I have been occupied taking pictures in numerous locations. I also know that many of my friends and families take pictures on trips too. I do not believe that taking photographs are bad on trips, but I do think people get carried away with taking pictures. People should be living in the moment, and should be enjoying their vacation. They should take some pictures, but a person does not need several different pictures of the same object. Just take a couple with family and friends. Then enjoy the vacation and just think about the objects you are looking at. It can be surprisingly refreshing not having to worry about taking photographs constantly. A person can just sit back and enjoy them self.

anaylsis paper -- exploratory writing

I am doing my paper on hockey cartoons and the many differences in them. On of the pictures I have chosen is to the left. It is a commical picture that expresses color well. Color is an important rhetoric device in pictures. It can show a person the audience, it can represent things, etc. In my picture to the left, It appeals to kids. There are many different colors that are thrown at the audience. The fact that the cartoon characters are also kids, crabs a child's attention even more. There is really no sign of movement or sound. There is no lines that suggest action is taking place. One of the two though has to be saying the bottom line. One is informing the other about the team they are playing tonight.
The genre used in this comic is like a newspaper, a cartoon, or a comic book. It is about humer. The texts suggests something funny that will draw the audience in. The text is small though, which means it is aimed towards kids. Children will not pay alot of attention to the text, they are more involved with the picture. There is no represantation of time, other than the audience knows it is during the day some time. They know this because they are playing hockey outside, and you usually can not do that in the dark. Also, there is a blue sky in the background with a cloud. This proves it was day because if it were night, there would be stars in a black background instead of whats there. This is just one of the pictures I am going to anylise even further in my paper. I will use most of the things I talked about above to show the differences in the cartoons.

Pop Tarts!

I chose POP tarts as my "package" for Tuesday's class. Is has a persuasive box that comes with three packages in it. I am going to talk about the box and the rhetoric it implies. First thing you see on the box is "POP tarts" in words. The "tarts" is more towards the center of the box, but the "POP" seems to stick out more because it is capitalized. They also use fast moving beams of light to make the observer think that it has just fallen on to the box. Like it was not there before. The box uses several words or pictures that are of importance.

The words Brown Sugar Cinnamon is surrounding the box. Not only are the words all around the box, but pictures of them are too. They have over twenty pictures of these "Brown Sugar Cinnamon" sticks all over the box. This has a crucial effect on the observer. It is their main persuasion. If a person likes Brown Sugar Cinnamon, then it sticks out immensely. The box not only uses the Cinnamon as a rhetorical devise, it also uses color.

The box has all sorts of persuasive colors on it. In fact, that is why it is attracting. It has multiple colors and people like this. It is different from an ordinary thing that only has one or two colors. The main background color is blue. With the effect of falling (from the beams of light previously mentioned), It kind of looks like the POP tart is falling from the sky. Like it was something given to us from heaven. There is one last persuasive example that is presented on this box and that is the characters.

The characters are cartoon characters. So the box has a better attraction to children since children watch more cartoons. The kids see that the cartoons look like they enjoy the POP tart and they always look happy. This makes a kid think that POP tarts are "good" and will make them happy. The child will then persuade his parent into buying the POP tart. Therefore, it is a weird, but very persuasive technique. The box has many qualities that catches human attention. These were just some of the numerous examples of persuasion the box gives to common people.

Australian Animal Protection Society Logo

The Australian Animal Protection Society is an animal shelter in Australia. I choose this logo because of its visual and rhetoric qualities. Although its not very big or colorful, it still does have a blue that sticks out to people. The name itself persuades people. Lots of people like animals, and this is a place where they help them. They have a cute cat and dog which helps persuade people. It makes people think about their animals or animals they might get. These people would not want anything to happen to their animals, so they are willing to help other stray animals that are hurt or lost.
A person could probably guess what audience this would appeal too, and that would be animal lovers, and/or people who just like animals enough to take care of them. It would attract them because they do not want to see animals hurt, lost, or dieing. After seeing an animal hurt or lost, they might keep it (depending on the kind of animal), or they will know where to bring it for care and shelter because of this organization. People who dislike animals probably would not care for this logo and/or company. They are usually cruel and will leave the animal for dead. Their mentality is that they do not like them, so why save them? All in all, this logo has some good visual and persuasive qualities that would attract most people when an animal is hurt or lost.

Logo argument and analysis.

This is the logo I have chosen for my topic.

5 person interview

I interviewed five of my friends to see the response I would get from the question "Do you think It's possible to take comics seriously?" I was expecting all of them to say no, but to my surprise, 3 out of the five said yes. The first person who said yes was one of my older friends from a different college. He basically told me that people should take them serious. He also told me that he had a class semi-based off of comics (so this helped his decision). The second friend I had cheated in a way. He knew that I had this class, and based on this, he decided that people should take comics seriously. He said, "If there is an academic class about comics, it has to be a serious subject." The third person who said yes did not really give me a good reason. He just said that he felt they should and that they can supply some good information. The two people who said "no" had completely different answers (as one might expect) from the ones above. They both basically said the same thing though. They said that comics are meant to be fun, not seen on an academic level. They said they can not take comics seriously. They have read them since they were small, and they cannot think of them in a serious matter. This interview was a good source of information and it was interesting to see what each individual had to say. In the end, I was surprised by the results, but impressed by their explanations.

group discussion

The people in my group were classified as "group number one." We had to do a serious of questions on a comic related source that looked like it good have came out of a newspaper. We discussed different questions, disputed, and then chose (what we thought) was the best answer. Our picture was of a little girl holding a muffin and even a younger boy staring at the muffin. The younger boy wanted this blueberry muffin, but he did not want the berries in it. Mothers can relate to children wanting impossible things. For example, a child might ask his mom to visit the moon because he saw it on TV, or ask her how to fly because he saw that in a movie. These were just some of the many questions we discussed in our groups. The group work made us analyse a genre (comics/comedy) and made us think about all these questions and answer them logically. This also made our group realize how many things can come out of a simple comic.

Almost attempt smoking, but evidence of harm saves me!

I have never smoked a cigarette in my life, but I did not think they were horrible for your body. One day, I saw some of my relatives smoking. I really did not think much about smoking at the time, and I thought what they were doing was just fine. I actually asked them if I could have a cigarette, but they said no because I would become addicted, just like them. They say they were doing it because of the addiction, and they explained to me that it could actually kill them in the end. They laid down the facts. They told me that it can cause cancer, its bad for your health, and there are numerous bad ingredients put in cigarettes. After this conversation, I went from thinking that smoking was fine, to thinking of it as a sort of evil. It can kill people. If no one had told me the bad facts about cigarettes, I might still think they were fine today and I could be a daily smoker. There was more evidence provided later in life that also influenced my position. Schools always have different assemblies over smoking and the harm it can cause. There are also programs like DARE that can help convince someone not to smoke. Although some of my friends did get me to try and smoke, my other friends just kept reminding me of the effects later in life. All of this evidence proven throughout life has convinced me that smoking is a bad thing and that is why I will never smoke. I went from thinking smoking was fine and almost trying it, to believing that it could be considered a "sort of evil."

visual vs verbal

I would have to choose visual communication over verbal for a couple different reasons. I am the kind of guy who learns more if he sees things, rather than hears them. If I watch a demonstration of something, I get more out of it than if I went home and read a book on the same thing. This visual communication is seen through out my day. I rather see the professor write something done ( like notes) instead of hearing him or her lecture for the entire class period. I just retain more information when I see it. I also use visual communication more than verbal in my non-academic life. Watching TV is a good example of this. TV uses both aspects of visual and verbal communication, but visual seems to "stick out" more than verbal. I can see the television show without sound, but i can not pay attention if I can't see the show. So I can watch TV without hearing it, but I cannot listen to TV without seeing it. I can't pay attention if I am just trying to listen to the information. It is just much easier when I can see it. And that is the main reason I picked visual over verbal communication.

Argument on a Brochure

A good argument seen today is which schools people should go too. Many schools have different ways of trying to lure students in to going to their school. One big way that Universities try to collect college students is through the use of a brochure. They will send them out to all sorts of juniors and seniors in high school around the United States. These brochures are "advertising ads" and they try to persuade a college bound student to go to their school. The specific brochure that I have chosen to use is Saginaw Valley State University's brochure. It basically starts out telling the student about the academic achievements they can accomplish in four years at Saginaw Valley State University. They claim that Saginaw Valley State University shows "winning" in a variety of ways. They display it through their sports, academics, etc. They even try to lure a student by saying how many people get a 3.0 and higher (44% according to Saginaw Valley State University's website). This is a sense of persuasion and it argues why students should go to Saginaw Valley State University rather than other schools. The next thing they try and throw at students is their great athlete programs. They tell you what sports are doing well, but they do not mention the sports that are not doing so hot. If your an athlete, they were say that their school can train you better than other schools and they will probably show you statistics if they are actually good at that sport. They will also lure these students in through athletic scholarships. They will attempt to give them more money then other schools. They also give high academic scholarships so that they can compete with different Universities. Saginaw Valley State University, in particular, will state that they have the best dorms in the state, and the lowest tuition costs. They say this to argue that their school is cheaper and provides just as good of education as other schools. This will persuade students from all over. Students like low costing colleges, and if a college can persuade them into thinking their school is the lowest, that University will get their "business." Universities will also try and persuade people with "things they can do on the weekends." They will normally have an event (like a movie) for students to be entertained. This is often seen on such brochures like the one about Saginaw Valley State University. These different techniques are used in all kinds of college brochures. I just chose Saginaw Valley State University because it is the school that persuaded me. Through it's use of argument, it is the reason why I am here, taking this class today. These statements demonstrate how different schools use brochures and other ads as arguments to persuade students to come to their schools.

commercials and clutter

I recall a recent Lucky Charms commercial that stuck out from the others. It used bright and shiny colors which grabbed my attention fast. Also, the jingle and the voice used in the commercial caught my attention. It had this catchy jingle that was stuck in my head and it seemed to make me hungry every time I thought about it. The voice sounded like one of my friends, which also made the commercial appealing. The devices did make an attitude towards what they were selling. All the devices made me think of something in my personal life (such as music and my friend) which caught my attention and even made me a bit hungry. These devices made this commercial appealing and quite successful.

persuasion: someone persuading me.

Many teenagers are persuaded in today's world. Through television, friends, and the Internet, they have to deal with persuasion almost daily. I, just like must people, have been persuaded into buying something in my lifetime. This time, though, it actually turned out fine. My best friend at the time was trying to get me to become a member of this place that sells running shoes. I wasn't really interested the first time I heard about it, but he kept bugging me. He told me of their amazing running shoes and how they cut seconds off times in races. he also said that they were reasonably priced and the owner knew what he was talking about. I eventually gave in and went and talked to the store owner. He actually gave me my first pair of shoes for free. I was excited and went there the next time I needed shoes. He was right in every account. He was a nice guy, knew what he was talking about, and it cut seconds off my times. This was a good and successful persuasion and I still go to that store till this day.

persuasion: me persuading someone else.

I have tried to persuade a number of people in my life. One that sticks out is when i tried to persuade one of my better friends into running with me (It probably sticks out because I am a big runner myself). I would just keep asking him to go running with me everyday. I would tell him all the benefits. How it would help him get into shape, lower chance of sickness, relieve him of stress, and many other helpful things. I just kept bugging him until, one day, he went running. He actually enjoyed it a lot and runs with me a lot now. He even runs by himself now.

Rhetoric conversation - good vs bad.

Rhetoric can be seen as a means of persuasion. It is used throughout our daily lives in one way or another. I believe that rhetorical ideas can be seen as good and bad. Sometimes, persuasion is required to get things done. This sence of persuasion can be really good if your job requires selling items. That person is going to have to try and persuade you, whether the items he is selling are good or not. If he can not persuade a person to buy his products, he will not make money. So I think it can help different careers (in a sense), which is a good thing. There are certain types of bad rhetoric though. A lot of the rhetoric people see on the Internet can be seen as not good. It gets in the way. Most people will not even consider looking at this. "Pop ups" are a main source of rhetoric on the Internet. Lots of people either avoid these things or just ignore them entirely. They can be a annoyance. When you want to do something online, you want to do it right away, not having to see this random pop up on your screen. It gets in the way, and most people will just get rid of it anyways. Commercials can almost be seen as the same way. I see people switching channels during the commercials all the time. They do this because its getting in the way and that is why I think rhetoric can also be seen as a bad thing.

First Blog Post

Hey! This is my first blog account ever. In fact, I didn't even know about a "blog" account before today. I guess it's alright.