The melting pot

America is the most diverse country on the planet. America has been known as a "melting pot" because it is a blend of many different cultures all in one place. America is good about this in that we have integrated every race into our public school system, we also represent all these minorities with large organizations and other things. So, overall america is a good melting pot because for the most part we are open to new cultures, we even have Cinco de Mayo, which is not even technically an american based holiday, as well as saint patricks day. Although, in some way america is not open to all these new cultures. We are very stingent about illegal immigration, expecially from mexico, but, they are coming into our country illegally and spending our tax money. Also, we have still not given the native americans true equal treatment, as well as that even though for the most part the civil rights movement is over, they are still racist acts happening in america. Some of the racist acts however are not just from whites, but blacks are doing racist things as well. So there are problems all around with people conflicting with different cultures, but, america is still the best country on the planet and i love america.

Identity, Society, and Culture

The Readings in the book is very interesting. Iv never thought that the images of people in drastic sitcuations may actually be a violiation of privacy. I believe that when someone does take those photos they are completely for good intentions, such as giving visual evidence to support a drive campaign or missionary team. Now my position in the world can shape my opinions on identity, society, and culture. My personal identity is affected because im an american. Being an american there is alot of personal pride, and love for your country, this helps shape my identity. My ideas on society are also very affected by being an american. We are in a first world country, our country is one of the most prominent countries on the planet with some of the most advanced military and technological advances. This really affects our society becuase compared to pther places we are in really good shape. Our America is the main contributer to the Western culture, we hav influenced things such as Rock, and roll, blue jeans and rap music. This leads into our culture as well because of this. Overall the largest contributer to my ideas on Society, Culture, and Identity is the fact that I am an american.

Outlines of Essays

An outline is a very useful tool when developing ideas. It can help you organize the ideas of your paper and put them in an order in which they form together and have a nice flow. I never really thought of most movie trailers as an outline. Some trailers do a very good job though, developing the main themes of the film, as well as an idea of the plot, setting, and story line. When we watched the trailers in class today that was also a good experince because we talked about each trailer afterwards as forms of outlines. This actually caused me to look at my paper as a movie in a way, and the outline was going to be me acting out the storyline of my paper. The subheadings is also a very good organization tool as well. This tool is used inside the tool of an outline, I will defineitely use it for my outline. The next very important tool discussed in the chapter is the use of transtions, they are how you transition from one point to another, and from paragraph to paragraph. Paraprasing was one of the last things discussed in the chapter. I personally have never gone a papraphrase but im sure that someday soon it will help me in developing useful points for an essay.

Bigger Faster Stronger

These two posters are very intersesting. First of all i think they are very clever whether this is a real move or not. The add shows a whole bunch of athletes that resemble real people that have been accused of steroids. American WWE wrestlers, many pro baseball players, boxers, track stars and other athletes are depicted in the poster on the right. In the poster on the right it also shows a whole bunch of pills and sirenges that really proove that the movies purpose is about the steriod use in america, and it is rediculous. There is a pretty clever slogan at the bottom of the right poster. It reads "get pumped for the summers biggest movie", this is clever because "getting pumped" is a common term referred to a person as he/she takes steroids. Something very interesting about both posters is that all the athletes faces are not visible. The poster in the right has the faces of the athletes covered by shadows, on the other the faces are covered by the name of the movie. This shows they dont want to give away any specific identity of a athlete accused of taking steroids. Another very important part of both of these posters is the man in a suit with a thumbs-up. This symbolizes a politician or even a manager of a team allowing whats going on to continue. Overall these posters are very clever and do depict a problem in the pro sports of america.

How i take notes

In college it is very important to take notes and to do it the right way. In class i usually follow along what is written on the board, and add bullets if the teacher goes into more detail about the subject but doesnt write it down. Ill also add my own notes if i figure something out that the teacher will explain later. When I am taking notes on sources however, i do it a different way. I usually go through the text or internet source and write major points in a bullet form. If the text goes into more detail about a subject, ill indent and number the points under the major bullet. I then, after i am done will group all the information into sections in my notes, so i can develop whole paragraphs with the info in each section and so on. I plain and simply try to not plagarize by changing the wording of each sentence i use information from, i may even combine or even shrink some sentences to make it usable and not plagarising. I also ofcoarse cite all my sources which i believe is the most solid form of plagarizm prevention. Chapter 7 was a great help to finding out about sources and helping me not plagarize as well.

Sports issues of today

It is very interesting how sports have changed in the last century. This article that we all read made some very interesting points. First that athletes are always in the national spotlight, whether professional, college, or sometimes even highschool. With that comes alot of media speculation. Along with this influence comes alot of race or gender related stereotypes. I liked the part in the article where now blacks are being able to make there cultural mark on america by being so impactful in music and sports. Also the stigmas about how the rich black man was a large middle finger to the prominent white population. I also believe that its not so much a middle finger to the whites its a middle finger to the people that kept them down or didnt believe in them to suceed. I also liked how it gives examples of how sports are changing such as the longer pants in basketball and so on. One thing that was also true is the impact on Hip-hop culture on these athlete celebrities. You do see this alot more now, some of it is good, some bad. The cornrows, the afros, the tatoos are all fine when it comes to being  a professional athlete, but derogatory speech, or ghetto talk, descriminating against woman, and always referring to drugs are where it is across the line. There is too much of this right now in sports, some sports are becoming so "thug" they are actually loosing popularity. Also, the statements that woman cannot have a true sport is wrong, many times iv heard jokes about womans basketball and how lame it is, well compared to 7 foot tall super athletic men thats not much room for fair play. Woman are allowed to compete if they want no matter the fact that genetically they are smaller than men, this doesnt mean woman dont lack in athletic ability.

Progression of Research

So far my sources are coming along well. So far i have found most of my info off of the search engine "google." First of all it is much easier to find things on these search engines such as google. Also the amount of info presented trumps any of the information presented by the library database sources. Now, the library database sources are better in some ways however. The library database sources are guaranteed that they are solid, and credible sources. While using google iv found several websites that have tons and tons of info, but i hope that the info is deemed credible so i can use it, cause it would really add to my paper. I have found 3 or 4 sources from the library database that are really short as well, some only 3-4 sentences. This is a help, but not a substancial help to writing a 2500 word essay. With these google sources there is pages apon pages of info, but, with this you also have to read alot and really narrow down the usable information you can use for the essay. Overall these two approaches to getting info are very powerful ones, next i know i will need to go get a book or two from the library.

Chap 5 Analysis

Chapter 5 was a good chaptetr to read. It helped give me some hope for this research paper. It will still be very challenging, and writing a 2500 word essay is something i am not good at. The first thing i found helpful was there are two types of sources of information, the primary sources, which are original texts, and articles or photos or other things that have come because of the primary source which are called the secondary sources. Both kinds of sources complement eachother, and it is interesting that when i finish this paper it will technically become a seconary source for others. Another helpful thing in this chapter was the description of solid or unusable sources, and how who their author is makes a big difference on if the source is credible or not. That is something i really have to look out for, because of my topic. My topic is interesting i just hope i can find alot of "credible" sources because its all about a hoax and not on a proven historical or scientific event. Lastly it gave a good idea to go for real people's opinions like in the form of a interview or survey. I could possibly do that, and see what percentage of students believe in the lochness monster and big foot. Overall this chapter was a big help and i will use it as a guide in the production of my paper.

The Possitives of Avatars.

This was a very interesting article. From the beginning of the reading I thought we would be reading about super-nerd gamers that have no life but the life they have on the computer. Which i was very wrong about, actually i felt glad for some of the poeple and their avatars. The most impressed i was with one of the gamers was the section about Jason Rowe, the handicapped boy. He explained how on gaming sites its got nothing to do with what you look like, in actuality there is no way for people to know what you actually look like. On gaming websites the friends you make are all about the personality you have, because your avatar represents you and your personality. I also felt very good when Jason said how he was welcomed with open arms at the Gaming Conference he attended. He explained how everyone was treated equally there and he didnt feel like he was judged or looked down on at all for being handicapped. This example of being a gamer is indeed a very powerful one. The next example i thought was interesting was the bio of Rebecca Glasure, and how she changed her avatar to be the complete opposite of her, and how it actually worked really well for her. She made her avatar a large man, and she said she can lead and no one will question her, it makes her feel powerful. Another thing i found interesting was that if she was a girl she would be treated alot different. Lastly it was funny how the friends she met online would tell her about her girl problems, and they didnt even know she was a girl. Overall all the avatar/avatar creaters had interesting stories, and i liked all of them.

The differences of Facebook and Myspace

The article on 293-295 of the textbook contained an article. This article was mainly about the differences between two of the premier social-networking sites. These two sites are myspace and facebook. I personally have a facebook and never really got into the whole myspace thing. I thought it was very interesting what was said in the article about how either site is the more popular with different groups of people. In my highschool there was alot of poeple that had facebook, but there were still groups that more supported myspace even though it was the least popular and older of the two. I also find that facebook and myspace DO show a division in race and culture. I cannot remember how many times iv heard someone say: "facebook is so much better, myspace is just ghetto." Now whether i agreed with that or not it did influence me to get a facebook over a myspace. I did ask around my highschool and noticed that it was indeed true that myspace seemed to be what many of my black friends had. Also some people in my school that werent black but was deep into the black culture of rap music and being from the "hood." this was very interesting to me and that is also why i find this article so interesting because it prooved something i have witnessed in my own life. The main differences with myspace and facebook is on myspace you control he background, where on facebook everyone has the standard layout. I did find that whatever was someones background was the main reflection of what people would think of you when they saw your profile, and thats one item to identify yourself with. So i thought it wasnt exactly the best way to present yourself because people will judge that very critically.

What i think about the essay..

I like the fact we are assessing ads and other forms of media. I'm very interested in that and would like to possibly make commercials as a job. The only thing I'm worried about is the length. 1500 words is a lot of words, and I'm even more worried about the 2000 or so word essay that is later in the class. I think it will be a real challenge writing that much, even though that is probably the average amount of words in a typical college paper.

Susie Orbach Article

Wow. The article written by Susie Orbach is a very good one. As i was reading it it almost gave me the chills. Its a pretty powerful thing that they are trying to do. I personally agree with it one hundred percent. I have seen some of the Dove commercials where the talk about "true beauty." They are all great and really powerful, every one of them iv seen has been creative enough and also compelling enough to really stick into my mind. My mom explained to me what kind of pressure girls are under now of days. Its just sick when you see shows like "extreme makeover" where it shows women getting major plastic surgeries, now here is a secret to all ladies: that isnt sexy. You may be able to get away with something small or not something easily visible, but atleast for me if i find out someone im interested in has had a lot of those sergeries, it is a turnoff to me. It is almost like the girl is willing to be fake in order to get something. Thats not a very appealing thing. Another thing that is "believed" sexy in todays time is being skinny. Like very skinny, i hate that about the fashion industry. I personally think that once you get to a certain skinniness it is unattractive. Being able to easily see your ribs and backbone is not pleasant. Believe me ladies that an adverage sized body can be the sexiest thing out there. Now, enough of that, Dove has begun this campaign in a really smart way. I like this article because it is written from someone that is behind the sceens, and directly influenced these commercials. The whole history behind how this campaign began is interesting too. I like that a common business believes they can take on and change a large cultural phenomenon in todays time. Its an empowering thought to think that anyone can make a difference. Also, because these problems hit close to home with me, because i have a family member who has gone through stages of very rough self image prolems and self esteem. Overall, props to Dove for doing these campaigns and i cant wait to see what the other companies that are getting involved with do to help this one larger ideal.

Chap 14 reading

Chapter 14 was a very interesting chapter. It took a lot of time to read because the chapter was a bunch of historical stories about photography and how it affected the world and America. My favorite story in the chapter was have photography and "snapshots" were invented. It was very interesting to me that the first "snapshot" photo actually took 8 hours to develop. Also how snapshot cameras were not the first pictures ever taken because there have been pictures from as far back as the Civil War. Also, it was interesting how the first snapshot camera was made. Also how it only cost $25 which today would be very cheap but back then was quite pricey. Nevertheless, the article describes how now there has been several billion snapshots taken since that day and how the world relies so much on photographs. I also liked the article named America: 24/7. It described a lot on how America relies on photography and how it can deeply affect our culture.

I really enjoyed the chapter with the rhetorical strategies in it. I believe it was chapter 2. I liked it because I had learned long ago about the Strategies of Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. It was a good reminder and i find that very interesting because some day i may be working on commercials so knowing some strategy behind commercials may help me.

Funny Tv Add

I know everyone has seen all these funny Allstate commercials, with the "Mayhem Guy." I personally think they are all pretty well done. Look at this one which is probably my favorite...   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thzUR_mq6OY&NR=1 , if the link doesn't work just look up Raccoon mayhem commercial on YouTube. The add is selling an insurance policy with Allstate. The “Mayhem Guy” is in the role of a raccoon and has found a way into a homeowner’s attic, and then it switches to scenes of him jumping around and eating insulation, scratching the walls and pipes, and even cutting the power. This scene does a great job on showing what mayhem would ensue if a real live raccoon had succeeded in getting into your attic. The whole scenario and portrayal in the add does a great job of appealing to many things, such as several Rhetorical Appeals. Pathos, the appeal to emotion is used because the add is funny. Also to emotional appeal because it makes you emotional for the people who live in that house that is now wrecked by the raccoon in the attic. Another Rhetorical Appeal used was Logos, the appeal to logic, when "Mayhem Guy" says "If you got your home insurance where you got your 15 minute car insurance you may have to pay for this yourself." That makes it a logical appeal because if the customer had been more logical...they would have saved money. That is ultimately the theme or moral of the whole add. This message is intended for homeowners, that is the target audience. Every good commercial or company has a good catch phrase or slogan, i believe this commercial has a good one, "would have been more protected from mayhem...like me."

Interesting Political Rhetoric

I Think this is a pretty interesting political cartoon....
It basically is saying that the unemployed and pretty much pushed away or "swept under the rug," as in no one cares about the unemployed as much as other things such as the national debt. The National Debt animal is even saying "Find another Corner", which i thought was pretty good imagery. Also I like how it shows that the president is adding to the National Debt, which i do agree with, no offense to anyone that likes President Obama. Lastly, the fact that the national debt animal is much larger than the unemployed human is important because it shows maybe national debt is a much larger problem, or the debt is alot more influential, I'm not sure but it is very interesting to me.