Sunday, November 27, 2011

Blog 12 (Week 3) (MP2) (Advertisement)

Advertisement


Subject: Kohls
Type: Commercial
Link :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-5lmAAFbUM&pfx=pfx_google_branding

   The commercial advertisement posted above concerns the national store called "Kohls" which is a clothing store for men and women.  The context of this commercial is that it is nearing Christmas time and the store is using this commercial to reel in business for the Christmas gift shopping sales. The audience is anyone with money or anyone who watches TV and sees this commercial. This commercial is not credible because it is using an angle to attract customers to the store.  What the commercial says could be extremely exaggerated in order to gain business which means it is not a credible source of information.
    Rhetorical Devices Used:

Pathos: There is a scene of a young woman and man kissing and exchanging gifts that are from Kohls which could attract a couple to go to Kohls to buy gifts for one another.  It appeals to their passion.


Hyperbole:  The commercial uses extreme exaggerations in order to pull the viewers of the commercial into going to Kohls and purchasing their items because they use terms such as "memories that last a lifetime" referring to the items that the store sells.


Expression:  The facial expressions of the actors in the commercial reveals their feelings of excitement and joy over the items sold at Kohls which pulls customers in and leads them into thinking they will be feeling that way if they buy a Christmas present from Kohls.




The achievement of the purpose of this commercial is unknown as of now because it is a new commercial and Christmas sales have only just begun.  But the commercial has achieved the purpose of informing the public and getting this information on air in order to appeal to customers. 

Reflective Argument Essay (Due 11-28-11)


Ali Mason
Mr. Gabriele
Period 8/9
Reflection/Argumentative Essay
11-28-11

            One of the most fundamental enlightened thinkers and writers of all time is John Locke.  Spoken from true belief and wisdom Locke expresses his hypotheses and assumptions of mankind through many works.  One of which was called Leviathan where he states, “in the nature of man, we find three principal causes of quarrel. First, competition; secondly, diffidence; thirdly, glory” (Locke 1). Locke’s claim that the nature of all men, which is comprised of selfishness and the overwhelming goal of personal glory holds true in modern society through the American pursuit to personal happiness and stability.
            Occupy Wallstreet is a political protest that is sweeping the American nation.  Citizens taking part in this group share common beliefs regarding the economy and the government.   Some believe that they are not being paid enough; therefore the government is to blame. While others believe that the reason the United States may descend into a depression is at the fault of President Obama’s, and in order to better their own personal lives a new leader must be inaugurated.  These people lack the understanding that what they are protesting is strictly for their own personal gain and happiness in this world.  The distressed unemployed blame the government for their problems and will keep protesting unless they are completely financially stable and no longer have a need to blame anyone for their losses.  Along with these beliefs, violence and mayhem has come about through this protests which further proves Locke’s point that quarrel is caused because of competition and glory.  The young protesters are there to gain personal welfare for their lives and are competing with the rest of the country for a steady job and a hefty income that pays their extensive bills. 
            Through analyzing Locke’s claims and comparing them to modern society one can capture the essence of the time period Locke thrived in.  In that day and age men were competing for land, for a wife, for a financially powerful family.  In the eyes of most the greatest achievement was to gain the most and provide the most for a family.  Understanding the view point that Locke displays through his writing is crucial to the time period it was written in and the parallels to modern day are unsettling compared to the rich content of Locke’s book on the nature of man.  The idea of diffidence is contrived from the human level of self-confidence.  A man may be subject to a low sense of confidence by being belittled by their government or surrounding environment or competition.  A quarrel such as one caused during the time period of the Salem witch trials is another example of the selfishness of human nature.  The blaming of others for doing witchcraft became an extended issue in the year of 1692 because of the claims of young girls and surrounding townsmen.  People used the issue for personal gain, realizing that if they named a “witch” and succeeded with banning them from the earth a new piece of land would be fresh on the market.  Thus allowing for personal gain through selfish deeds.
Personal gain, glory, and self-confidence are elements within the human soul that push the human mind to be selfish at its core.  Locke is absolutely right with his claim regarding these issues.  Through Leviathan he conveys a never-ending issue that the human race will always have the same underlying desires for their own life to be perfected. Whether or not they are a good person, there will always be the subconscious need for quarrel in order to retrieve what they believe is rightfully theirs.   These characteristics are shown in the modern American society and have been portrayed throughout history through the actions of men and women alike, conveying Locke’s claims over and over again. 

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Blog 11 (Week 2) (MP2) (Political Cartoon)


Site: http://thesocialpoets.blogspot.com/2011/01/political-cartoons-obama-2011-state-of.html

This political cartoon is in the context of the current situation with Obama's presidency.  It depicts the idea that Obama is promising many things to the people of our country but is not following through.  The author clearly drew this picture because he is unhappy with the way Obama is ruling our country.  The audience is clearly the American public and the purpose the author is trying to achieve is the need for other people to join in his cause to go against the current president and to have a new one who actually gives the country what he is saying he will give them.  The author is not credible because he is bias with his own personal views and would sway the viewer into thinking what he thinks is an accurate generalization about Obama. 

Rhetorical Devices:
Symbolism:  What is interesting is that the cartoonist chose to have the main two characters to be conveyed as an elephant and as a donkey.  The donkey is portrayed as the person who does not really have their own opinion and is just there because they have to be and that that is the way the country is run. This alludes to the cartoonist's thoughts about our country as a whole who go alone with what Obama says but don't pay attention as closely as the elephant seems to in the photo.  In general, an elephant is seen as a huge and overbearing animal, one that is feared by other animals and is pretty on the food chain as well as having the wisdom that other animals lack.  Interestingly enough the elephant is the animal chosen to be the American that has a "brain" and understands that Obama needs to be put out of office which is the underlying view point of the cartoonist himself in this case,

Logos:  It is logical to throw Obama out of office if he is going to keep making false promises and not going through with them.  

Expression:  The cartoonist uses a goofy expression to convey the donkey's face and a wise unhappy look on the elephants face to further his generalizations about the smart and dumb people of America.

I believe the author did not achieve his purpose because the cartoon is too bias and it is not convincing enough to change the views of onlookers.  Although it does achieve the purpose of getting information out to the general public. 

IRB BOOK SIGN UP POST (MP2)

Book Title:  Heaven is For Real
Author: Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent

Summary: A toddler aged boy has a near death experience and after he "comes back to life" he has all of these spiritual epiphanies and is preaching God's word.  He also claims he has seen heaven although he is doing all of this without any knowledge of God's word or what the bible says.  It is a religious miracle that is a true account of this young boy's story.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Blog 10 ~2nd MP~ Week 1 (Visual)

http://www.youtube.com/user/Apple?v=q6oGhLvLfgs&feature=pyv&ad=6744972792&kw=mac%20commercial

Subject: Apple MacBook Air
Company: Apple

      The above link is to Apple's MacBook Air commercial.  The MacBook Air is a laptop that is EXTREMELY thin and durable.  The commercial is in context of the modern and global need for the best technology which includes the thinnest and most prestigious laptop.  Companies all over the world are competing for the most customers in the computer world and Apple's new creation of the MacBook Air is scoring major points.  The purpose for this commercial was to promote Apple's new product to it's audience which in this case is everyone in the world who has access to a computer.  The commercial is not credible for a few reasons, one) it is not an information ad therefore there are no statistics backing up how good the laptop actually is and two) it is a bias ad because the Apple created a commercial to sway customers to buy their product instead of giving out the real facts and how it compares with other laptops.

Rhetorical Devices used:
      Communal memory - in order to understand the commercial the audience would need to know what Apple is, what other laptops there are in the world, the history of technology, and the most basic knowledge of what a laptop even is.
 
   simplicity - The commercial is 30 seconds and has about three colors shown throughout the whole thing. it is simple which draws the audience in because it is not to bombarded with information. the music is calming and the video is simple with the motion of the laptop and the hands moving the laptop.
 
   logos - the ad refers to logos because in simple terms the ad is conveying to the audience that it is logical to buy this new laptop because it is thin, and is the "next generation of macbooks" which creates a human desire for the new laptop.


The ad achieved it's purpose because millions of this laptop have been sold and it is still in stores... which means the product has had success in order to continue being sold.

- Ali Mason

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Blog 9 ~Last IRB post for MP 1's book~

Title of Book: My Stroke of Insight:  A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey
Author: Autobiography by Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D

Section of book - Pgs 48 - 115
(Although this was not a planned section in the previous irb reading outline i posted in the beginning of the marking period, this section of the book was the most interesting and had the biggest impact on me.  Therefore I feel it was appropriate to post this group of pages as my last IRB post for this book)


     This section begins in the middle of Jill experiencing her stroke.  Her brain is gushing with blood that is pouring over the systems her body needs to process language, movement, normal thought connections, speech in general, movement, the ability to connect words with a picture or any meaning at all.  She has to focus on each task she is doing with an immense amount of concentration and effort. At this time she is trying to focus on the task of calling for help. Then after hours of fulfilling this task she receives help from a co-worker (she lives alone). The next few days within this section she is being evaluated by doctors, nurses, and is being taught to read, write, and speak again as if she was a child.  Her mother comes to take care of her and is nurturing her as if she were a toddler.  This section ends with her gaining skills back, one at a time, even though it will take her eight years to fully recover from her stroke.
   To fully understand Jill's thought process as she goes through this trauma is hard to grasp.  She does her best of explaining through her book what exactly it meant for her body to feel as if it were liquid with no end instead of a tightly packed atom-filled human being.  Through extremely sophisticated diction and uses of description and imagery she shows the audience her mind during the time of the stroke.  As her mind deteriorates readers follow her through her journey, yet no matter how much she explains through her personal accounts of the effects of the stroke the ending result of what exactly went through her blood-soaked mind will forever be hard to fully understand.
    Jill also uses every aspect of the Appeals; logos, pathos, and ethos.  She is extremely credible because the first 1/4 of the book is strictly factual information about the brain, brain systems, the different parts of the brain, and medical terms.  She is a Ph.D graduate, a brain scientist, and she worked at Harvard University in their medical field. She has surpassed the credibility line.  She also uses logic through statistics and pathos through the mind of a wounded woman needing love and comfort from family and friends as her brain lost all power.
  Through the use of these devices and her affective use of language her purpose was fulfilled to engage the world in what she had gone through and she has informed the globe about strokes and the important facts every person should know.  This book was fascinating and gave me a whole new point of view to the possibilities of the human mind.

- Ali Mason