Homework Assignment Summary 10/22 (Advertisements R Us)

Advertisements have always been design to persuade us to purchase their products. A given ad from Coca-Cola company presents many things to its viewers. Firstly and most notably is that there is visible segregation present within the ad of both ethnicity and gender. It mainly presents white male seemingly all enjoying a cold crisp coke. This gives an insight as to what America in 1950's society was like an what was deemed important. As Rubin points out, the diversity Coca-Cola was supporting and chasing was that of economic and war related. Another point presented is Coca-Cola has given itself the image of America and during wartime it spread its image to other countries. "The ad suggests that Coca-Cola recognized the patriotism inspired by the war..." (Rubin, 178). With said patriotism the ad suggested supporting troops by giving them a Coke set Coca-Cola up for expansion perfectly. The ads basic message was Americas lives are "to be envied and emulated, so drink Coca-Cola and live that life yourself" (Rubin, 180).

Textual Analysis Prompt

1.      The publisher of our first ad about dog fur is from the PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.).Our second ad about Walmart in support of animal cruelty is from Mercy for Animals. Our last ad is a dog adoption ad which is published by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

2.      All these texts are intended for people who have compassion or a love for animals. For example, in the first ad the slogan is “If you wouldn’t wear your dog…please don’t wear any fur.” They are purposefully trying to make people feel compassion for animals that are skinned for fur.

3.      We can tell that the texts are intended for people who have compassion or love for animals because they are all focused on doing the most ethical choice for the animals, while pressuring people into having compassion. For example, in the ad about Animal Cruelty they are blaming Walmart for supporting Animal Cruelty and pressuring you into supporting their side, instead of Walmart. Also in the ad about adopting a dog, it pressures you into compassion for the dog because the ad is narrated from the dog’s point of view, and by relating on a personal level.

4.      The purpose of these texts are persuading you to support their cause or to sway your opinions about something. For the first ad, they are trying to prove and have people in support of equality between all animals. In the second ad the creators are trying to change the way Walmart and other companies treat their animals. In the last ad the creators are trying to persuade you into adopting a dog. All three ads main point is to get you to do something.

5.      The creators of the Walmart ad are trying to make people aware of what they are eating. This causes less amount of people to buy their animal products, which decreases Walmart’s profits, so they hopefully start to make a change. They are working towards their purpose by promoting their issues, and making a voice for themselves. All the ads are trying to address that ethical values trump overall. For example, in the Walmart ad, the makers of the ad are directly accusing Walmart of Animal Cruelty, giving Walmart a bad reputation. This makes people rethink their decisions.

6.      In the Walmart Animal Cruelty ad, it says, “Imagine being crammed inside a medal stall, barely larger than your own body, unable to turn around or lie down comfortably for nearly your entire life. You will never see the sun, breath fresh air, walk, play, or engage in any natural behaviors. This is the daily reality of pigs raised for Walmart’s pork.”

7.      As a group, all the ads inform you of a problem and advise you to take action.

Summary of "Advertisements R Us"

In her essay, Advertisements R Us, Melissa Rubin brings insight to how companies persuade consumers to support their products. Rubin argues that Cola-Cola does this through the use of ideals, values and stereotypes. She first does this through the connection between the ad and World War 2. According to the essay it puts the company in position to expand their enterprise and have others try their product. In addition the author argues in the ad there is visible segregation of not only black people but women as well. She says it's one of the ways the company conforms to America's racial intolerance. The article also indicates that the way the ad it set up in its images that it gives the consumer a sense of pride and persuades them participate in that pride. The author concludes that from all the given above that the main message of the ad is, "theirs is a life to be envied and emulated, so drink Coca-Cola and live that life yourself."

Thinking About the Text: "Advertisements R Us"

1. Melissa Rubin gives us inside to quite a number of things in the Coca-Cola ad. Firstly she informs us that Coke spread in popularity because of its role in the war effort. This lead to factories in other countries and by the time the war had ended Cola-Cola was in a prime position to further their enterprise. Secondly she informs us about the segregation that appears in the ad as far as both black people and women are concerned. Her evidence for it was directly from Coca-Cola in that it was in tune with the society's view of racial prejudiced. Thirdly she shows that in the ad it's pretty much the prefect life. She presents this by describing the setting in which that ad is in and what is happening around it. Ultimately she concludes that in the ad it's depicted that American's lives are to be envied and drinking Coke would give you that same emulation.

2. She incorporates historical context with the use of direct quotations and through the way she starts the analysis and goes into its roots. This ultimately provides a firmer understanding of what she is connecting so as, to the reader, there isn't a disconnect.

3. Given the question, we're able to learn a great deal about a culture from a single ad. What we learn and how much we learn though is ultimately determined by how much research is done and how much analysis is done of it. Not only can you answer questions about the culture but you can also answer questions about the lifestyle, the economic situation during that time. As well as you could find another similar ad shortly after the other was published and attempt to determine how successful it was. 

4. A contemporary ad that comes to mind when thinking of our era is ads about phones. Ads about phones these days consist of many happy people and many people using the phone in all of it's features. In reality most people won't know how it works, how to do the functions shown or understand what's better about it. They also show almost nothing but the phone and people on it. Not retroactively in a group, by themselves, alone. They also depict famous and good looking people using it giving a sense of status to the phone and a sense of feeling and objectivity. The two ads compare two very different things but they basically do the same in their meaning. That the product is great, it's something to be envied but you could also have it and have the status it presents.

Taking stock of your paper response questions

1. My main point of my story was to share my personal story of a struggle with schooling I had. Specifically that being English classes and them not keeping my interest any longer.
2. My audience was wide set. Thinking about it I mainly thought it was our class and our general age group, while also keeping in mind the larger scale of the audience hence why I tried to relate to them. I assumed that everyone has been through an experience they've not liked and to me it seems like a  reasonable thing to assume but there could also be a person who hasn't ever had that. I had to consider a few audience needs, I didn't want to spark some religious debate about the paper so I kept religion out of it and secondly I tried to make it so everyone understood as to what was happening and trying to connect to them in those situations.
3. After the first draft I got a lot of good feedback but some negative but I took it in stride and looked at it as a way to improve and places to improve. During the writing however a got a lot of feedback from people like my mom and dad which helped a lot because they had a lot of good input for me. It helped me realize that yes my writing is good overall but in some cases there can be some disconnects every now and again and I tried to improve on them.
4. I found that when I was writing this I had a lot of flashbacks to that time in my life and how good that year was. I also then looked at the story (which I still have and work on on my computer) and read it through again and worked on it. I learned that my love for that type of writing is still there.
5. I'd like to know if how I did the opening sentence was appropriate and correct. I know you can have short sentences but I forget exactly what has to be included for it to be correct.

Literacy Narrative Final

Christopher Burning

English 101-5:30

Dr. Sonia Begert

10/15/15

The Discovery of Roderick

The year? 2014. The place? North Kitsap High School. The subject? My future. We all have a point in our lives in which we discover that we either like, or dislike something. Whether that be a fruit, activity, TV show, types of books or anything really, we’ve all been there. I was at a tipping point in my life which would decide whether I would, or wouldn't continue to enjoy writing, or English classes as it were, at all anymore.

                To this point in my life writing and English in general didn’t catch my interest too much. It has always been about writing literary essays and analyses which was the same thing time and time again. I found it a bore, having to sit there and read the text again and again until your eyes strained to even focus on the words. It was the only thing that I could remember doing in my English classes all of high school and middle school. However this day was different, today was the day I discovered the type of writing that kept my interest in English.

                The class received a new writing assignment. You could hear the shuffling of the stack of papers being moved around the room and the students shifting in their seats anxiously waiting to see what they has to do next. Sighs could be heard circling the room as each student got the assignment and read it. Admittedly, I was one of them. As soon I heard the other students sighing I did too. However halfway through my sigh I actually finished reading the assignment and realized, I was excited about it.

                The topic was to write a story of a character who is taken from the 1980’s and transported into our current day and age. How one got this character to the future was up to the students. I didn’t want to use the overworked stories of aliens and teleportation machines. Let’s face it, there’s enough of those out there. I wanted mine to be different, something new, something that would make you want to read it because it made you wonder how.

                 As the teacher explained to the class what was expected my mind was off brainstorming my new story that the teacher would hopefully thoroughly enjoyed. Once the teacher told us to get to work I immediately began to scramble to write down all my thoughts, almost faster than I knew I could write. My mind raced with potential and excitement. I had a spider web of ideas by the time the bell rang, ranging from possible character names to potentially half of the plot. Thankfully I was able to get away from the girl who had an overwhelming amount of perfume on next to me, which at times made me lose concentration. I gleefully went about the rest of my day excited for what my imagination had in store for me later on that night.

                By the time I arrived home I had a mountain of homework on my plate. Whereas I should’ve had all my concentration on the current homework I was trying to complete. My mind had it out to be thinking about the story I wanted to write.

                Once I finished all my other homework I began what I really wanted to do. I poured myself a nice cold glass of root beer, which was oh so delectable, grabbed my sheet of ideas and finally began the one writing assignment that had caught my attention in many years. I began typing down the main character. His name was Roderick Ledford. A respectable man, in his 30’s, cleanly shaven, well dressed, mannered, except when angered, who was dedicated to his job as a photographer for a magazine company. I then began to ponder where Roderick lived and worked. I initially figured I would end up using some small city but in the end he worked and lived in New York City. I kept writing and writing and by the end of the day I had a good block of text that included a majority of my thoughts and so I decided to call it a night. I ate my dinner of pork chops and mashed potatoes, watched two episodes of House M.D. and went to bed.

                The next school day came and I went about it as usual. For a majority of the day I wasn’t bothered by the thought of my story too much since I had down what I wanted for the most part. However there was one thing I needed to figure out about my story which is a crucial piece. I needed to figure out how Roderick was to get from the past to the current day. All of the day and night before and even into the current day I wasn’t able to figure out a feasible way to have him transported besides the exhausted ways aforementioned.

                Then it hit me. It hit me like a truck, funnily enough that’s how he was to be transported from the past to the present. He was to be sent on a job to get pictures for a new magazine edition and had to travel cross country. On his journey he had to refill for gas and he goes into the gas station to pay for his gas but the power goes out, the doors lock and he passes out only to wake years later with his truck all rusted and decrepit. I went home and quickly added it to the story and it began to really blossom from there.

                Over the next week I constantly developed, revised and added to my story. In total the creative story ended up being over five thousand words in length and had an interesting plot. I knew this because I had many people read it for me a give me feedback and it was all positive.

                This narrative doesn’t end here though. The next week I printed out two copies of my paper and walked to class with a skip in my step and excitement in my heart. In my hands I had the one piece of writing that I couldn’t stop thinking about and constantly improving over the last week. It was the first piece of writing I was very proud of in my entire middle school and high school career. I walked into class, placed my masterpiece down on top of the others and then sat.

                Later in the class my English teacher called me to her desk.

                “Chris…this story was supposed to be around five hundred words” she said.

                “Yes, I know, but this was the first piece of writing that spoke to me and I didn’t want to stop writing” I replied with a grin on my face.

                “Okay, well… can you make me a shorter edition so I can still grade it? If I find it interesting enough I’ll read the full version and if I deem it worthy I might add some extra credit to it.”

                “Yes I can do that.”

                “You’re one of my star students and you’ve improved leaps and bounds since the start of the year and if anything you deserve it.”

                “Thank you very much, I appreciate that.”

                I went home and created a shorter version but tried to not sacrifice any plot development or detail. I brought it in the next day happy with what I had managed in 500 words, presented it and received a perfect score and later extra credit for my good work. You should find what you enjoy, find what keeps you sane and what you have fun with. This assignment gave me hope for the rest of my high school English classes. I had finally managed to find the type of writing that was interesting to me and in which, I enjoyed it. I now knew that I could have fun with writing and that it all wasn’t a bore after all. 

In Class Exercise for Questions on pages 138 & 141

Think About Your Own Use of Analysis:

The process of choosing OC:

My process of choosing OC wasn't immediate in the slightest. I first thought about colleges in which I wanted to attend since my Junior year of High School. I thought about many places like WSU, Montana State, SPU and more similar to that in the beginning. as time went on though I realized the amount of money it costs to attend out of state, the difference between private and public college. I then saw a video on YouTube about student debt, the average and how long it takes for one to pay off that debt. Thinking about my future I decided then that I wanted to keep the amount of dept I had to a minimum.

The process of choosing my classes:

Initially I thought that I would be able to jump into what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Using programs to create parts, assemblies and simulations then putting them to use and create things in the real world. I then realized after meeting with my counselor that it was much for than that. I needed to make many prerequisites before I could get into the heart of what my career was. It was only then that I chose my classes based on what needed to be done first so I could advance in a timely manner. 

The process of deciding to do the wash:

It's generally something I don't do too often, my father usually decides to do it most times. I woke up yesterday though changed, looked into my laundry hamper and realized that there were a lot of clothes in it and if I didn't wash soon I might run out of certain garments. So I took it down grabbed my dads hamper, which was full too, and did the wash through and through.

The process of deciding on a major:

Since sixth grade, the time I took my first shop class, I realized that I liked using my hands, working with computer programs and then bringing those things into existence and understanding them. so I continued to take shop classes and by the time I was in High School I was taking Engineering classes. Now knowing what it was that I liked, Engineering, I took the time to look at different careers that described what I liked to do for a living. I found it to be Mechanical Engineering, from that point on I had what I wanted to do with my life.

What it tells me:

 Looking at what I just described I realized that when it comes to what interests me it takes priority over everything. After that necessary things that need to be done take the priority.

Look For Analysis in Everyday Use:

 Websites: BestBuy Reviews and LinusTechTips

In my opinion LinusTechTips is the better resource when it comes to review of a product. Whether that be a phone, computer, gaming console or other tech items LinusTechTips does a better job reviewing them. While BestBuy gives all their customers access to do a review most don't extend for more than fifty words. Most times in order to find a detailed review that answers a lot of what you want answered takes a large amount of digging. However, LinusTechTips does a better job of reviewing in many ways. Although they may not have the first reviews but they're generally quick. To start, while they take those few days to make a video about the item they're compiling together the questions that a lot of people have and answer virtually all of them that are or aren't being asked. They also go into more depth than most people who write reviews about items on BestBuy and are more largely versed in technology in general. While LinusTechTips keeps their viewers informed as much as they possibly can, they also keep the viewer interested. Their videos not only have a detailed review going on, they also have a visual representation of what's being described in the review happening in front of them. It gives the viewers a larger sense of comfort and allows those who don't really understand all of the terminology to at least understand what's being discussed.

Were I to change BestBuy reviews I would do a few things. Firstly I would have a minimum word count be in place. Secondly, when a customer goes to fill out a review there would be an outline of things that are generally most asked and if they could give their opinion on them in detail and not just, "it's good." Thirdly I would install a system that would automatically bump the most detailed reviews and most helpful to the top of the list that was the customer doesn't have to spend nearly as much time having to search for an extremely helpful review. Lastly, I would give the users options to add images to give the customers an idea as to what their talking about. 

Literacy Narrative Rough Draft 2

Christopher Burning

English 101-5:30

Dr. Sonia Begert

10/15/15

The Discovery of Roderick

The year? 2014. The place? North Kitsap High School. The subject? My future. We all have a point in our lives in which we discover that we either like, or dislike something. Whether that be a fruit, activity, TV show, types of books or anything really, we’ve all been there. I was at a tipping point in my life which would decide whether I would, or wouldn't continue to enjoy writing, or English classes as it were, at all anymore.

                To this point in my life writing and English in general didn’t catch my interest too much. It has always been about writing literary essays and analyses which was the same thing time and time again. I found it a bore, having to sit there and read the text again and again until your eyes strained to even focus on the words. It was the only thing that I could remember doing in my English classes all of high school and middle school. However this day was different, today was the day I discovered the type of writing that kept my interest in English.

                The class received a new writing assignment. You could hear the shuffling of the stack of papers being moved around the room and the students shifting in their seats anxiously waiting to see what they has to do next. Sighs could be heard circling the room as each student got the assignment and read it. Admittedly, I was one of them. As soon I heard the other students sighing I did too. However halfway through my sigh I actually finished reading the assignment and realized I was excited about it.

                The topic was to write a story of a character who is taken from the 1980’s and transported into our current day and age. How one got this character to the future was up to the students. I didn’t want to use the overworked stories of aliens and teleportation machines. Let’s face it, there’s enough of those out there. I wanted mine to be different, something new, something that would make you want to read it because it made you wonder how.

                 As the teacher explained to the class what was expected my mind was off brainstorming my new story that the teacher would hopefully thoroughly enjoyed. Once the teacher told us to get to work I immediately began to scramble to write down all my thoughts, almost faster than I knew I could write. My mind raced with potential and excitement. I had a spider web of ideas by the time the bell rang, ranging from possible character names to potentially half of the plot. Thankfully I was able to get away from the girl who had an overwhelming amount of perfume on next to me, which at times made me lose concentration. I gleefully went about the rest of my day excited for what my imagination had in store for me later on that night.

                By the time I arrived home I had a mountain of homework on my plate. Whereas I should’ve had all my concentration on the current homework I was trying to complete. My mind had it out to be thinking about the story I wanted to write.

                Once I finished all my other homework I began what I really wanted to do. I poured myself a nice cold glass of root beer, which was oh so delectable, grabbed my sheet of ideas and finally began the one writing assignment that had caught my attention in many years. I began typing down the main character. His name was Roderick Ledford. A respectable man, in his 30’s, cleanly shaven, well dressed, mannered, except when angered, who was dedicated to his job as a photographer for a magazine company. I then began to ponder where Roderick lived and worked. I initially figured I would end up using some small city but in the end he worked and lived in New York City. I kept writing and writing and by the end of the day I had a good block of text that included a majority of my thoughts and so I decided to call it a night. I ate my dinner of pork chops and mashed potatoes, watched two episodes of House M.D. and went to bed.

                The next school day came and I went about it as usual. For a majority of the day I wasn’t bothered by the thought of my story too much since I had down what I wanted for the most part. However there was one thing I needed to figure out about my story which is a crucial piece. I needed to figure out how Roderick was to get from the past to the current day. All of the day and night before and even into the current day I wasn’t able to figure out a feasible way to have him transported besides the exhausted ways aforementioned.

                Then it hit me. It hit me like a truck, funnily enough that’s how he was to be transported from the past to the present. He was to be sent on a job to get pictures for a new magazine edition and had to travel cross country. On his journey he had to refill for gas and he goes into the gas station to pay for his gas but the power goes out, the doors lock and he passes out only to wake years later with his truck all rusted and decrepit. I went home and quickly added it to the story and it began to really blossom from there.

                Over the next week I constantly developed, revised and added to my story. In total the creative story ended up being over 5000 words in length and had an interesting plot. I knew this because I had many people read it for me a give me feedback and it was all positive.

                This narrative doesn’t end here though. The next week I printed out two copies of my paper and walked to class with a skip in my step and excitement in my heart. In my hands I had the one piece of writing that I couldn’t stop thinking about and constantly improving over the last week. It was the first piece of writing I was very proud of in my entire middle school and high school career. I walked into class, placed my masterpiece down on top of the others and then sat.

                Later in the class my English teacher called me to her desk.

                “Chris…this story was supposed to be around 500 words” she said.

                “Yes, I know, but this was the first piece of writing that spoke to me and I didn’t want to stop writing” I replied with a grin on my face.

                “Okay, well… can you make me a shorter edition so I can still grade it? If I find it interesting enough I’ll read the full version and if I deem it worthy I might add some extra credit to it.”

                “Yes I can do that.”

                “You’re one of my star students and you’ve improved leaps and bounds since the start of the year and if anything you deserve it.”

                “Thank you very much, I appreciate that.”

                I went home and created a shorter version but tried to not sacrifice any plot development or detail. I brought it in the next day happy with what I had managed in 500 words, presented it and received a perfect score and later extra credit for my good work. You should find what you enjoy, find what keeps you sane and what you have fun with. This assignment gave me hope for the rest of my high school English classes. I had finally managed to find the type of writing that was interesting to me and in which, I enjoyed it. I now knew that I could have fun with writing and that it all wasn’t a bore after all. 

Literacy Narrative Rough Draft

                The year? 2014. The place? North Kitsap High School. The subject? My future. We all have a point in your lives in which we discover that we either like or dislike something. Whether that be a fruit, activity, TV show, types of books or anything really, we’ve all been there. This was a critical point in my life which would decide whether or not I would still continue to enjoy writing, or English classes as it were, at all anymore.

                To this point in my life writing and English in general didn’t catch my interest too much. It has always been about writing literary essays and analyses which wasn’t enjoyable to me at all. I found it a bore, having to sit there and read the text again and again until your eyes strained to even focus on the words. It was the only thing that I could remember doing in my English classes all of high school and middle school. However this day was different, today was the day I discovered the type of writing that kept my interest in English.

                The class received a new writing assignment. You could hear the shuffling of the stack of papers being moved around the room and the students shifting in their seats anxiously waiting to see what they has to do next. Sighs could be heard circling the room as each student got the assignment and read it. Admittedly, I was one of them. As soon I heard the other students sighing I did too. However halfway through my sigh I actually finished reading the assignment and realized I was excited about it.

                The topic was to write a story of a character who is taken from the 1980’s and transported into our current day and age. How one got this character to the future was up to the students. I didn’t want to use the overworked stories of aliens and teleportation machines. Let’s face it, there’s enough of those out there.  As the teacher explained to the class what was expected my mind was off brainstorming my new story that the teacher would hopefully thoroughly enjoy.

                Once the teacher told us to get to work I immediately began to scramble to write down all my thoughts, almost faster than I knew I could write. My mind raced with potential and excitement. I had a spider web of ideas by the time the bell rang, ranging from possible character names to potentially half of the plot. Thankfully I was able to get away from the girl who had an overwhelming amount of perfume on next to me, which at times make me lose concentration. I gleefully went about the rest of my day excited for what my imagination had in store for me later on that night.

                By the time I arrived home I had a mountain of homework on my plate. Whereas I should’ve had all my concentration on the current homework I was trying to complete. My mind had it out to be thinking about that story I wanted to write.

                Once I finished all my other homework I began what I really wanted to do. I poured myself a nice cold glass of root beer, which was oh so delectable, grabbed my sheet of ideas and finally began the one writing assignment that had caught my attention in many years. I began typing down the main character. His name was Roderick Ledford. A respectable man, in his 30’s, cleanly shaven, well dressed, mannered, except when angered, and dedicated to his job as a photographer for a magazine company. I then began to ponder where Roderick lived and worked. I initially figured I would end up using some small city but in the end he worked and lived in New York City. I kept writing and writing and by the end of the day I had a good block of text that included a majority of my thoughts and so I decided to call it a night. I ate my dinner of pork chops and mashed potatoes, watched two episodes of House M.D. and went to bed.

                The next school day I went about it as usual. For a majority of the day I wasn’t bothered by the thought of my story too much since I had down what I wanted for the most part. However there was one thing I needed to figure out about my story which is a crucial piece. I needed to figure out how Roderick was to get from the past to the current day. All of the day and night before and even into the current day I wasn’t able to figure out a feasible way to have him transported besides the exhausted ways aforementioned.

                Then it hit me. It hit me like a truck, funnily enough that’s how he was to be transported from the past to the present. He was to be sent on a job to get pictures for a new magazine edition and had to travel cross country. On his journey he had to refill for gas and he goes into the gas station to pay for his gas but the power goes out the doors lock and he passes out only to wake years later with his truck all rusted and decrepit. I went home and quickly added it to the story and it began to blossom from there.

                Over the next week I constantly developed, bettered and added to my story. In total the creative story ended up being over five thousand words in length and had an interesting plot. I know this because I had many people read it for me a give me feedback and it was all positive.

                This narrative doesn’t end here though. The next week I printed out two copies of my paper and walked to class with a skip in my step and excitement in my heart. In my hands I had the one piece of writing that I couldn’t stop thinking about and constantly improving over the last week. It was the first piece of writing I was very proud of in my entire middle school and high school career. I walked into class placed my masterpiece down on top of the others and then sat.

                Later in the class my English teacher called me to her desk.

                “Chris…this story was supposed to be around 500 words” she said.

                “Yes, I know, but this was the first piece of writing that spoke to me and I didn’t want to stop writing” I replied with a grin on my face.

                “Okay, well… can you make me a shorter edition so I can still grade it? If I find it interesting enough I’ll read the full version and if I deem it worthy I might add some extra credit to it.”

                “Yes I can do that.”

                “You’re one of my star students and you’ve improved leaps and bounds since the start of the year and if anything you deserve it.”

                “Thank you very much, I appreciate that.”

                I went home and created a shorter version but tried to not sacrifice any plot development or detail. I brought it in the next day, presented it and received a perfect score and later extra credit for my good work. I managed to find the type of writing that was interesting to me. I now knew that I could have fun with writing and that it all wasn’t a bore after all. It ultimately led to my success for the rest of my English classes and has given me a new lease on writing. 

Potential Essay Topics

Topics:
1. Finding my favorite kind of writing that I still enjoy.
2. Improving leaps and bounds in my writing and analysis skills in AP Literature and Composition.

1. Favorite kind of writing.

• A clearly defined event: It was the turning point in my life in which I was either going to continue enjoying English classes or not.
• A clearly described setting:I plan on having the story take place in the classroom and my home since it developed over that time.
• Vivid details: (In classroom) I see the room with the removable walls in the back and all the different items the teacher has from her trips around the world. I also see the assignment we are given to which is to create a creative story, 500 words min, about a character who is somehow transported from the 1980s and is taken to the current day. (At home) I see my new computer and I begin to brainstorm ideas about how the character is transported, from where, what changes, his livelihood and the name.
• Consistent point of view: It will be told from my point of view.
• Clear point: It's the time in my life where English classes we either going to keep my interest or not.

"Literacy: A Lineage" Annotation

Within the first few lines the author hints to us that her path to literacy is much longer and more complex than most. The author then uses a poem as a mean of trying to portray the connection her father and her had. In the third paragraph the author then tells us the reason she's writing this piece. She thanks her father as the one who got her into literacy. In paragraph four the author describes her father to us as a means of trying to express to us who he really was. Into the sixth paragraph the author shares vivid memories with us which as one of the key features. Throughout this essay the author constantly refers to her main point and connects back to it. With the last concluding paragraph of the essay the author again stretches the importance of her father as a role into her current career.

Outline for Literacy Narrative

1.      Visual Description: Lydia’s Story: “We she opened the front door, the whole street looked like a river, and water poured in.” (129, paragraph 6)

2.      Dialog: Bidding Farewell to Arms: “I elect to remain a member of the I.R.R.,” (119, paragraph 8)

3.      Sensory Description: Lydia’s Story: “Entering the large VFW, hall we were struck by the chemical odor of a cleaning solution so strong it seemed toxic.” (128, paragraph 2)

4.      Possible Topics:
A. Discovering the type of writing that I enjoy in English 11 (Beginning in classroom and transfers to home).
B. A.P. Literature and Composition, “Meaning of the Work as a Whole”

5.      Purpose: I want to tell this story because this is a type of writing that I enjoy to this current day more than most others. I also what to tell this story to share my accomplishment and a good memory I have about writing.

6.      Audience: Other students and peers, as well my professor, are likely to have a story that is similar to this because by this point in our lives I’m sure most of us know what types of writings we like and don’t like. I don’t believe I’ll have to do too much explaining and I’m pretty comfortable sharing everything about that time in my life.

7.      Stance: I would like to be affectionate, reminiscent and sincere.

8.      Media/ Design: I plant to have my narrative in print and at this point I don’t plan to include any images. I just plan to include a lot of vivid detail.

9.      Visual: (In classroom) I see the room with the removable walls in the back and all the different items the teacher has from her trips around the world. I also see the assignment we are given to which is to create a creative story, 500 words min, about a character who is somehow transported from the 1980s and is taken to the current day. (At home) I see my new computer and I begin to brainstorm ideas about how the character is transported, from where, what changes, his livelihood and the name.

10.  Hear: (In classroom) I hear the groaning of other students complaining about the topic and the shuffling of the papers as everyone reads it over. (At home) I hear the quite hum of my computer and the typing of my dad on his computer near me. As well as the wind blowing outside my window.

11.  Smell: (In classroom) I smell the overwhelming amount of perfume that the girl next to me has on. (At home) I smell pork chops cooking on the stove with mashed potatoes.

12.  Feel: (In classroom) I feel the cool desk underneath my fingertips. (At home) Excited, eager. I feel the solid clicking of my keyboard as I type away on my story.

13.  Taste: (In classroom) I taste nothing. (At home) I taste the sweet carbonated root beer I have at my side as I type away on my story.

14.  People’s Description:
Story Character (Roderick Ledford): He was a stout man, well dressed and almost always prim and proper. However he didn’t always enjoy his job he had at the paper company he worked at. He spoke well and clearly but when angered he could be vulgar.

Myself: I speak English clearly, I can mumble but I try not to. I tend to dress nicer than most and enjoy taking care of myself. I’m average heights at about 5’9”, and pretty fit and trim.

15.  Dialogue:

“Chris, this story was supposed to be close to 500 words.”

“Yes, but I thoroughly enjoyed what I was writing and didn’t want to stop.”

“Okay, well…Can you make me a shorter version so I can still grade it? I’ll read the full version and if I think it’s worthy of it I might add it as extra credit.”

“Yes I can do that and thank you very much for that.”

“You’re welcome. You’re one of my star students and you’ve improved leaps and bounds since you’ve began.”

“Thank you again, that means a lot. I strive to improve myself all the time.”

16.  Summary of the Action:
I typed furiously with this new found love for this type of writing. My hands began to cramp and stiffen but my mind didn’t want to let the flow of thoughts stop. I wrote and wrote for hours on end, non-stop. All the while my mind was processing the plot the characters, ways to improve what I currently had and things to add to it.

17.  Significance of the Narrative:
This event impacted the way I go about and look at writing in a new way. It made me realize that not all writing is boring and I don’t enjoy it. Rather I found my love and I still work on this story to date. Improving it and furthering the plot and the characters. Had I not experienced this event English classes might have never interested me as I furthered my education. 

Redefining Rhetoric

Across all the blog posts I read on what is rhetoric we seemed to have the same similar ideas. Generally across the board, the consensus about what rhetoric is, is about ones ideas and persuading others into believing of those ideas. However when it came to ways as to how one goes about it we all got the similar ideas from the book no doubt but what ones were important in which was differed among peers. Overall, reading other definitions didn't change my idea of rhetoric.

My definition of rhetoric

My definition of rhetoric is the process of repeating of ones ideas, motives or concept to persuade someone. However when writing rhetoric it much be a more tailored and manicured process than most. When writing rhetoric one must keep in mind their purpose, audience, stance, medium, design and context. Revising all the aforementioned areas as the piece is progressed and needs it. For example, taking into mind the purpose and stance on a position. You must carefully consider the people, your audience, in which you're presenting this point to. Take the recent video done by John Oliver on the topic of Mental Health. One would try to improve care about the mentally disabled by first going to those of congress and trying their luck there. Thusly you wouldn't be aggressive and not sure in your stance and have your purpose being just about the mentally disabled. Rather, one would consider their purpose to encompass the way mentally disabled are handled and cared for and the facilities in which they're kept. Ones stance would have to be very committed and heartfelt but at the same time professional. All while keeping everything suited to who you're talking to, even if that means revising per each different audience.

Rhetorical Situations-Narratives

Differences and Similarities of “Lydia’s Story” questions:

Throughout the questions referring to chapter two we had many more similarities than we did differences. For example, question 1, we all pretty much agreed that the main point of the story was that you should keep hope, a level headed mind, clear thoughts and things of that nature. Similarly with question 2 we all agreed it was told from Lydias’ perspective in the third person form. As well as in question 3 we had words and phrases that made the story standout but probably some of the more important ones were of the phrases that talked about the crackling TV and the crisp cool AC. However, question 4 is where we differed the most by far. One member believed that it was pretty formal while the others thought not. We also had similar ideas about the original audience but different enough to mention. We thought the audience could be either health care Politian’s, works, or individuals.

Connections between Chapter 2 and “Lydia’s Story”:

Chapter two was mainly about knowing who you’re talking to and knowing your position and really knowing who you are before you post or print what you’ve wrote. “Lydia’s Story” had its strengths and weaknesses given its unique constraints and opportunities. However we believe that the largest connection between “Lydia’s Story” and Chapter 2 was the fact that “Lydia’s Story” was an example of many of the items presented in Chapter 2.

Summary of “Think About” activity:

Personal List:

1. (Song) Smoke Filled Room- Mako (about a girl trying to make herself look older when she should really be embracing her youth and innocence)

2. (Story) My day to my girlfriend (mainly about what I’ve done for the day what I have planned for the rest of it)

It seems that today most of the things that we talk about with our friends and family is egotistical because it’s all about us and what we’ve done most of the time. Similarly with mainstream hip-hop/rap music. It’s all gotten to this point where it’s one big morph of these big names talking about their life with girls, drugs and money.

Summary of “Think Beyond Words” activity:

The most compelling videos we agreed on were those who had fitting music and those who tell their life story’s in a compelling way that is interesting. For example a woman is telling her life story but while she’s telling that they have picture from her lifetime on the screen.

Summary of “Compare Narratives” activity:

Narratives: Magazine articles and Music Videos

The largest difference between a Magazine Article and a Music Video is perhaps obviously is one is print and one is electronic. Each case is different because with an Article in most cases it needs to have visuals of some sort to maintain the reader’s interest. However with a video you don’t need a lot to keep someone’s attention, a video could be jaw dropping with no sound or anything else but the video at all. If a video was presented in a different medium a person’s amount of interest would change dramatically more so for the lesser, although if a magazine was made into a video it can instantly become more interesting considering in our day and age our attention span has dropped considerably. 

Lydia's Story Question Reponses

1. Brideau's main point of the story was to inform the readers that keeping a level headed mind and hope in an emergency situation can mean the difference between life and death. It's indicated near the end of the essay when she used a quote directly from Lydia telling of her levelheadedness and well as the very last sentance tells of her hope.
2. The primary point of view in the essay is from the view of Lydia and the situation she was in. Since it was filled with action, more so than if someone just told what they knew about the event, and lead to the reader being much more intrigued.
3. Brideau makes the narrative come alive by using many words and phrases but some of the most notable are,

• "...the whole street looked like a river, and water poured in."
• "...brown rushing water."
• "...it took three men to move it. But as the water continued to rise, the table started moving, then rocking..."
• "...water pressure was so strong  the water spurted out of the kitchen sink like a fountain."

Those words and phrases appeal to the readers emotions by drawing their attention because they knew that Lydia was in serious danger.
4. The original audience probably would have been towards those who are in health care of some sort or those looking to maintain their own well being. Her tone was fearfully triumphant. Words and phases that create that tone are, "kept her head", "She was finally able to come down from her perch. The water was up to her chin.", "Terrified of drowning..." and, "it represents the essence of hope and determination in the face of terrible adversity

Chapter 2 Prompt Response

In this last week I've done quite a few different types of writing some of which are,

1. Texting 

2. Facebook Posts

3. Job Applications

4. Blogging

5. Informative Drawings

Out of those listed I find the three that differ the most from one another are Texting, Blogging, and Job Applications. 

Firstly, texting. As an example I will use the conversation my girlfriend and I had about meeting up in order to see one another. As far as the genre is concerned my point was to explain to her to try to work with what is best for both of us and not necessarily just what works for one of us. My tone was more so casual considering I've known her for many months. My audience was equivalent to an audience for friends. Therefore I was close with my audience and she was already interested in what I had to say. My purpose was to  have us be able to hang out on a day that works out best for us. My stance was objective, overall it worked well and we have completed the objective.

Secondly, blogging. This is completely new to me and so it was a complete different type of writing. The genre, most recently, was concerning evaluation about writers, authors and genres. My tone was more formal than texting but not over the top formal. My audience could be many many different people but as to be safe I stuck with the idea that it would be complete strangers. My purpose was to complete an objective set by the professor. My stance was objective since I wanted to finish it. The context was limited in some stance since it was an in class assignment.

Lastly, job applications. Compared to the two previous topics this was different in almost every single way.  My genre was both an evaluation and explanation. My tone was extremely formal due to the fact that I was looking to show them respect and hopefully impress them. My audience was a potential employer and I had no relationship with them at all besides a stranger in which I need to show the utmost respect. My purpose was to try to get them to hire me and my stance was extremely objective and supportive. The context being nothing but information.