Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Watching the News

I watched Fox News on Monday October 15, 2007 from 11:30 a.m. to 12 noon. From what I watched the way they catch the attention of the viewers is very bland and stupid almost. They use cheesy music and animations ot tey and "grab hold" of the viewer. Most of the time it is so fake that the viewer is thinking more about how dumb that last animation was and not focusing on the news. Also, the main focus of the actual news of course was the war. It was so much it almost was overwhelming in the first 10 minutes. They were very pro war and the guests they had were evry knowledgeable. The amount of information and statistics was very overwhelming and confusing though. They were speaking in there terms and not in normal american terms. The thigns were saying were confusing for me and would be confusing for most people. The news they were giving was great, just a little to confusing and overwhelming.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Audience

http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/the-ads/# "click little brother"

Audience- The specific age group, class or gender that the commercial is trying to focus on affecting.
This message is specifically made for adolescences, probably teenagers that have younger brothers or sisters that look up to them. The anti-drug industry is specifically targeting adolescence and even some younger children than that. They use this message that being a "cool" older brother means being good for your little brother and teach him the right thing to do. The main target audience for most anti-drug ads are adolescences, since they are the primary users of illegal drugs.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Visual Argument


The Duke Lacrosse Scandal in 2005-2006 was huge news in not only the college sprts world but the national sport world as well. Here the author tries to show the reader that even though the Duke lacrosse players did not commit rape, it still doesn't make them the perfect little angels that the media made them out to be. The author uses ethos to catch the readers ethics. The reader thinks that the players were not guilty of any crime or discrimination. yet, the author shows that the players in fact "only" were drinking underage and discriminating heavily towards the strippers that were at the party. The author knows that the reader will be think about what is being said and it will affect the reader when they realize that even though the boys were not rapists, they still were wrong. He uses logic in that underage drinking and racial discrimination is wrong and illegal. The reader can understand that doing wrong things, even if they weren't as bad as what was first accused, are still wrong and they should be punished for it.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Photo Essay Reflection

Many of the photo essay's we looked at today don't even need a caption. I feel like most of these pictures could just be shown, and touch so many people. The dead bodies or children with guns need no words. These images just get stuck in your mind and causes your brain to wonder. It brings up so many questions and sometimes a narrative can help explain a little bit, but not to the full ex tint. So many pictures of death and despair don't just leave your mind. Many of these pictures are of people standing up for what they believe. many times a picture can say a thousand words and this many times means no words are even needed. The sorrow and hatred on peoples faces make you feel so many emotions. You can actually feel like you are in their shoes and at that place by just looking at how they feel. The blood, sweat and tears show how hard many of these people are really fighting for their cause. Many times the pictures can be happy and joyful, and show how amazing life really is. Many times the narrative helps the viewer understand what is going on a round the picture, and this many times can help make the picture more effective. Picture essays really are an amazing way to show the emotions and feelings behind someones cause. All in just one picture a person actually feel like they are in the picture and can feel just like that person as well.

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/depression/photoessay.htm

Monday, September 17, 2007

Writing Narrative

Some of my strengths in writing are that I write with a very strong opinion and I don’t write in a “wishy-washy” manner. I wrap up my thoughts with strong opinions and that helps the reader fully understand the topic I am discussing. Some of my weaknesses in writing are how my sentence structure can be simple at times and I need to try and use more elaborate vocabulary. Some ways my style has changes over the years is that I used to make simple and stupid grammatical mistakes and I was lazy on my punctuation. Over the years I have began to watch my punctuation and grammar as well as writing with more detail. I usually like to write my papers or essays on a piece of paper and then proof read it before i type it up. It seems easier to fix on paper then it does trying to fix it on the computer. What I want to learn in this class is how to make the transition in between my paragraphs to flow a little better. i have always had trouble with ending one paragraph and starting a new one.