Blog #3

            Mass media is very persuading and is also very entertaining.  For example all the TV ads with famous people can be persuading and also the news can be persuading.  It can also be very entertaining because there are so many shows that are on TV.  No matter what the person is interested in, it is most likely on TV. 

            TV ads can be very persuading.  Ads that are about losing weight or getting into shape are a perfect example of this.  Especially if the company is using celebrities to sell their product.  For example the weight watchers commercials use Charles Barkley.  If people don’t know who Charles Barkley is he was a great NBA player.  He was in 11 NBA all star games and won the MVP in 1993.  If people see him trying to lose weight for weight watchers and saying that the company has worked then people will use it just because he is a popular guy. 

            Also TV is so entertaining.  There is probably a TV show for about everything you could think of.  There are sports shows, comedy shows, sifi shows, and many others.  There are also informational shows.  If a person is bored it is so easy to just sit on the couch, turn on the TV, and watch a show.  The show will keep them interested. 

            TV companies know that their shows could be persuading but they don’t really care at all.  Their main goal is to get people to watch their shows.  The mass media is very persuading and entertaining because all of the TV ads, and because there are so many shows out there that anybody can almost always find something entertaining on TV.  Mass media has in a way, taken over peoples lives. 

Blog #2

            One of Mondello’s claims is that technology is taking over our world.  “Sales of physical books dropped 30 percent last year, while e-book sales more than doubled.  Sales of DVDs fell during that same period, while online streaming rose.  And in 2011, for the first time, digital music downloads overtook sales of CDs.  It’s as if we’re deciding en masse that when it comes to the arts and entertainment, we can do without the actual object that is the object of our affection.” (Mondello)  That quote shows exactly how technology is taking over our lives and it explains it perfectly.  The claim is so true.  Technology has taken over everything.  Anybody could look around for just one day and notice that technology impacts every single person’s life greatly.  For example almost everybody has cell phones, a computer, and a TV.  That right there is only three things of technology that has taken over everybody’s life. 

            People rely on the internet so much now.  Back when the internet wasn’t as popular people would go and read books to find out information or just talk to people to find out information but now it is totally different.  People will go to one thing and one thing only to find out information; The World Wide Web.  With the internet the way it is now why wouldn’t you want to go to the internet to find out information?  It is quick and is easy.  The internet also has so much information.  Anybody could basically research any topic in the world and will find something about it on the internet. 

            Cell phones have changed the world completely.  For example when cell phones weren’t popular or weren’t really around people would do all the talking face to face.  Now people will just call someone else or send a text message and they think that acceptable.  People are on their cell phones all the time now, especially teenagers.  Now smart phones have taken over.  There are about a million apps and there is basically an app for everything.  It’s ridiculous.  Now people don’t even have to go to the internet to find out information, they can just look down at their smart phone and figure it out that way.  Because of cell phones a lot of peoples communication skills are awful.  Especially kids who have grown up with technology so advanced.  “She could not be sure, for the Machine did not transmit nuances of expression.  It only gave a general idea of people- and idea that was good enough for all practical purposes.” (The Machine Stops)  That quote is a perfect example for cell phones because when people do send text messages they don’t really show true expression. 

            Television has also been a huge impact on the advancement of technology.  For example almost everybody has a TV in their house somewhere, and most people have multiple TV’s.  There are programs where someone could get thousands of channels to watch.  Basically everything is on TV.  News, sports, shows, everything.  The TV can be so informational and is also so entertaining.  Some people will watch hours of TV a day.  In a way it is addicting to some people.  Some people think that they have to have the TV on every night so they can fall asleep.  Some people will even have family dinner with the TV on.  That’s ridiculous.  If that’s not technology taking over peoples lives then I have no clue what it is. 

            Technology has the changed the world.  It has changed the world for good and for the bad.  A lot of things about technology have been good and people are all for it but then technology has also taken over a lot of people’s lives.  It’s like people can’t live without their cell phones or their laptops.  It’s sad that it has came down to that. 

Blog #1

This ad is obviously for the Hoover vacuum. In the ad there are a lot of things going on at once.  In the ad you see a lady who is pretty attractive laying down reading a Christmas card, a red vacuum that has a bow on it because it’s rapped like a present.  Also there are other Christmas gifts in the bottom left corner.  There is a lot of text on ad.  It’s in all different sizes too.  There is small text underneath their logo, bigger text towards the middle of the page, and again small text in the bottom right corner of the ad. 

There are basically only three colors in this ad; white, green, and red.  Green and red are traditional Christmas colors.  When most people see green and red together they think of Christmas and Christmas symbolizes happy times.  Therefore the green and red in this ad symbolize happiness.  It goes well with the ad because the ad is trying to convince the person that when you receive a Hoover you will be happy and in a great mood. 

            The lady is lying right by the tree like a little kid would when he is opening her presents.  She has a smile while she’s reading the card to show that she is happy with the present she got.  Also, when little kids get presents during Christmas time that they are excited about you notice that they never want to let them go or let them get out of their reach.  The lady in this picture is still holding onto the vacuum with her left arm.  During Christmas time when little kids go to open presents they usually go for the best one.  Because there are still wrapped presents in the bottom right corner it shows that this is the best gift she received.  She got so excited to go to this gift she hasn’t really recognized the other ones. 

            The text is very different between each one. For example the first text right underneath the logo is very short and sweet.  Also the words are very small.  The text in the middle is what first catches your eye.  It’s big, kind of long, and is bold with red color.  The last text is kind of hard to see.  It’s also very small in print size but there is more text there.  The last text is also written in letter form. 

            The first text is a typical slogan.  It is saying that if you get her a Hover you are giving her the best.  It’s emphasizing that there is nothing better than the Hoover.  Because of the second text you can tell that this ad came out around Christmas time.  It shows that this ads purpose is to sell Hoover’s on Christmas morning.  Also under morning there is a text saying and forever after in parentheses.  The placement of this text is the key because it is right under Christmas morning.  That means that yes she’ll be happier with a Hoover on Christmas morning but she’ll also be happier in the future with a Hoover.  It’s showing that this product is good all the time not just during the holidays.  The text at the bottom is in letter form.  The text is making the husbands feel like if you really care about your wife then you would by the Hoover vacuum.  It uses a rhetorical question in the text just to tell the husband if you care about your wife and you care about your house you should get this vacuum for her.  It also talks about the prices to show that this vacuum is a good deal.  Saying the price of an original Hoover vacuum is $86.95 and then showing that the Model 29 is only $13 more shows that it is worth it to get the nicer vacuum. 

            This ad is more for husbands.  Its purpose is to get husbands to buy this vacuum for their wives for Christmas.  This is persuasive because of the last text.  The last text is very persuasive because is uses a rhetorical question and is saying if you care about your wife you would get her this.  In a way it kind of makes the husband feel bad if she doesn’t get this product for her.             

Blog entry 2: Learning outcome 1

http://www.helium.com/items/579632-restaurant-reviews-the-outback-steakhouse

This restaurant review is on Outback Steakhouse.  It is a very opinion based review.  It is also a good example for learning outcome one.  The audience for this review is people who are interested in the restaurant.  The purpose of the review is to show people that it is a good place to bring a family or a good place to go out for a date.  Since the purpose of the review is to get people to go to Outback the structure of the writing is very important.  The writing starts off much differently than most do.  It begins with “Great appetizers! Great steaks! Great burgers! Great service! Great restaurant! So I guess that means I like the Outback Steakhouse. Let me tell you why.”  This sounds like something that would go into a commercial. It is very advertising.  It really overwhelms the reader in a good way.  It talks about all the good things the restaurant has to offer and explains from there.  Also this review does a great job explaining that Outback isn’t like a fast food place but it also isn’t very fancy.  For example it says “The other thing I like about Outback is the casual atmosphere. You can be wearing shorts and a T-shirt or jeans and a casual shirt and fit right in.”  This again shows the purpose because it is more informational and shows the reader what is expected if you go to this restaurant.  Also this review brings you through the process of going to this restaurant.  It first talks about what you can wear and the prices.  Then it starts to talk about food and the service of the restaurant.  It is set up in that way to again back up the purpose of showing you the restaurant and getting you to go there. 
  

Blog entry 1: Learning outcome 1

Body Ritual among the Nacirema is a perfect example for learning outcome one.   Learning outcome one is all about how the audience and purpose affect the structure of the article or writing.  The audience of this article is Americans.  The purpose of it is to show weird things Americans do on a daily or monthly basis in a different point of view.  For example this article is about describing Americans in a different way.  The “tribe” the author is explaining is called the Nacirema’s, which is American backwards, but he is actually talking about Americans.  One example the author uses in the writing is “Despite the fact that these people are so punctilious about care of the mouth, this rite involves a practice which strikes the uninitiated stranger as revolving.  It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a small bundler of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures.”  This quote is describing Americans brushing their teeth.  The “hog hairs” are the brushes on your tooth brush and the “magical powers” is the tooth paste.  Another example the author uses is “This part of the rite involves scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp instrument.”  This quote is describing a man’s shaving of his face.  The sharp instrument is a razor and lacerating the surface of the face is the process of shaving.  The author had to think about how he was going to plan this piece because his purpose was supposed to be about Americans without them knowing.  The structure and content of this writing had to be planned out very carefully.            

Blog entry 3

There is nothing like game day, sitting in class, watching the seconds tick away from the clock.  Waiting for time to fly by.  Then finally, it is time.  School is over and there is a rush of kids who fill the hallways, but you’re only thinking about one thing: It’s game time.  It is a cool spring day.  The birds are chirping in the background.  Walking out to the field is a feeling that you couldn’t even imagine.  Seeing the freshly cut grass.  The smooth brown dirt in the infield, the bases painted a spotless white.  Nothing is like the game of baseball. 

               In this paragraph I show sensory detail a lot.  For example I talk about how as an athlete you just sit in class waiting and waiting for school to finally end.  I said “watching the seconds tick away” as in meaning it seems like it takes forever.  Also I described how the weather usually is outside during a baseball game, and I described the field.  I used sensory detail to really put the reader into my situation.  If the reader is an athlete, I tried to make that feeling come back of waiting and waiting for the game to finally happen.  If the reader goes to baseball games or is a baseball player I really put them in a place of seeing a baseball field right before a game.  The grass is freshly cut and the bases are painted a spotless white.  I try and make the reader see the field and feel like they are waiting for their game to come along instead of just telling them about it.