Chapter fifteen’s main idea of crossing cultures helps with answering the ways America is a similar to a salad bowl or melting pot and the ways that it is still struggling against this idea.  The part that specifically helps with describing these ways is the section titled “Borderlands”.  This section displays one image in particular that sums up America being a melting pot/salad bowl perfectly.  The image is in the shape of the United States filled with pictures of those who have immigrated here.  Words are blended in between the images informing the viewer of the various origins these people have.  America is like a salad bowl/melting pot since this is a country that is made up of a large number of people that have different backgrounds.  Since the beginning of the country, everyone was an immigrant.  However, the country is also struggling against this idea in many ways.  One specific way that we struggle to maintain this image is the issue surrounding the border between the US and Mexico.  A road sign located near the US-Mexico border displays the word caution across the top and features what people would stereotypically consider to be illegal immigrants.  Although most Americans have no concerns with people of different backgrounds, certain cultures have been branded by the acts of those who try to get into America illegally.   These illegal immigrants are seen by most Americans as a drain on society since the people who are in the country legally pay for the services of the illegal immigrants through taxes that the illegal immigrants do not pay.

The position that a person has in the world tends to shape most of the things in their life especially when it comes to the way that we think about identity, society, and culture.  This is because where we are in a world that depends on the information available to us or how fast we necessarily get that information.  It also effects how we view and interpret this information.  However, on a scale even smaller than the world is one within the individual country that we live in.  Within our own country the way we think about identity, society, and culture varies.  This is because of the stereotypes that people hear and believe in.  These stereotypes cause people to assume they know about a certain culture or society, when they do not know the real facts.  By only viewing information from one position in the world we get a very narrow view that does not necessarily take into account all the facts or information surrounding particular events.  For instance, people who are brought up in a world with all of their needs provided tend to view the world as a good place but have the tendency to take for granted the position they have in the world.  However, those people who are brought up in families that struggle to live day to day have a tendency to be more negative about the world around them but tend to value and protect all of their possessions.

Chapter six focuses on outlining and the different ways to include information in your paper.  When outlining there are eight different styles that can be used depending on how you plan on organizing your argument.  These styles range from chronological and problem-solution to narrative.  Each of these styles have cases that they best suit.  For example, the illustrative style emphasizes examples of patterns.  The chapter discusses different ways to include information such as references in your paper and how to integrate research sources.  The different options given for integrating information are summarizing, paraphrasing, and the use of direct quotes.  Within the chapter an outline by Dexian Cai is featured as an example.  This outline consists of the major points that he is going to make within his paper.  Each point listed has an explanation of the purpose of that point and the references, if any, that support the point.   Along with the references, Dexian Cai also proiveds the citations for the points.  When developing a paper, outlining is a powerful tool used to organize your thoughts, develop the basis to support your arguments and document the supporting reference material.  An outline also helps develop the flow of the information in your paper.

The posters for “Bigger, Stronger, Faster” shows the different affects advertising can have on the viewer.  The movie theatre version of the poster tries its best to appeal to audiences with its background, placement of objects, the font type and style used.  However, the poster used for the DVD release was just a plain background with the characters and the movie title featured on a label over top of their heads.  This shows that the appeals made to the viewer in the movie theatre poster where mainly to fill seats in the theatre.  The movie theatre poster appears to almost glorify the use of drugs or other enhancers among athletes with the reasoning that it should not be considered cheating because everyone is doing it.  The movie poster shows the negative side of professional sports, but puts it in a form that is attractive, flashy, and appealing to young children who use posters to choose the movies that they want to see.  The American flag in the background behind the athletes sends the message that it is the American way to do whatever it takes to get to the top even if it means using performance enhancing drugs.  The DVD poster appeals to the more intellectual crowd by asking a thought provoking question.  This type of question appeals to part of society that wants to change the rules even though they may not be a sports person.

When taking notes I try to gather information that appears to be relevant to the topic my assignment is on.  How I take notes depends on whether or not the information is in a book or a print out.  When the information is a printout I tend to highlight the most useful parts and color code if the information fits well with a certain part of my assignment.  If the information is in a book I make sure that I right down the page number, the title of the book, the author, and occasionally the isbn number.  To avoid plagiarism I make sure that if I have paraphrased something that I include the name of the author that originally had the idea.  I also make sure that if I am quoting something that I have the page number and the author.  Another way that I avoid plagiarism is by writing down a list of the websites that I found information at so that I have the information needed when it comes time to create a works cited.  Chapter seven helps with making sure that you avoid plagiarism by suggesting that you write as if you are having a conversation with the people whose works you cite within your paper.  It says that you should serve as a moderator where you introduce each person and then in addition contribute with your own ideas on the topic.

The interviews in the textbook discuss completely different topics.  These topics consist of the how the media covers war and the McDonaldization of society.  Within the first interview the answers are typically short and more back forth conversation between a group of people with comments about things that are going on in their surroundings.  The second interview consists of a Professor discussing his thesis, in which his answers to the reporter’s questions are rather lengthy and thorough.  The arrangement of speaks within the second interview determines that the argument is building up and getting stronger.  This can be seen when the responses the reporter receives get progressively longer and more thorough as the interview precedes, even when the question asked is only one sentence.  The arrangement of speaks within the first interview does not appear to help determine the argument because some of the statements made within the interview have no relevance to the questions asked.  The arrangement however is helpful in the fact that it shows both sides of the argument, which is helpful so that the reader can see both the upside and the downside in the way the media covers the war.

Chapter thirteen and parts of chapter eleven cover the topic of stereotypes.  Within these chapters the use of a range of different forms of text provides multiple perspectives on these issues.  The varieties of texts used within these chapters consist of the opinions of different people who each possess a different form of knowledge about the topic they are discussing.  Chapter eleven features Sheri Graner Ray, an award-winning game designer, who discusses female players. Ray’s view is often different than the typical views since games are typically aimed towards the male gender and opinions are usually expressed from the male perspective.  Chapter thirteen focuses on sports media with articles by a commentator on American popular culture, a television writer and producer, and a sports writer.  Each of these articles provide different ideas and input on the same topic, sports.  It is the unique backgrounds of the individuals writing the articles that determine their reflection or opinion of a certain topic or issue.  The type of texts that form a range of perspectives on these issues are the texts in which a reader can see the facts along with the author’s opinion and interpretation of the facts.  This allows the reader to either agree or disagree with the author’s conclusion or form their own opinion on the subject.

Chapter five focuses on conducting research.  Within this chapter the reader is provided with different ways to help them conduct research that will be helpful when writing.  The different parts of researching that the chapter consists of are developing search terms, primary and secondary sources, and evaluating sources.  Developing search terms concentrates on helping the reader choose the appropriate terms to use when searching for information about a topic.  It also tells the reader that they may need to use different search terms depending on whether they are using the internet, databases, or a library to find research on their topic.  Primary and secondary sources explain to the reader the difference between these sources and why they are helpful.  Primary sources are original texts for the reader to analyze within their paper.  Secondary sources typically provide commentary on a primary source or they just help to support the topic as a whole.  Evaluating sources helps the reader find sources that are credible, reliable, and authoritative.  The first step in evaluating a source found online is to determine whether or not the author or publisher is credible.  Then the reader needs to sort through the information within the website to decide if the information is helpful with their argument.  Chapter five gives the reader many different ways to help with researching their topic.

The article “Profiles from Alter Ego:  Avatars and their Creators” and Mark Stephen Meadows article “Auto Portraits” discuss avatars and the importance of their role in our society.  Meadows’s article compares avatars to the portraits of Royal families in Europe by saying that portraits are used to provide a large deal of information on a person and how they lived, which is similar to how an avatar reflects the personality of its creator.  This shows that the role of an avatar is to display the type of person that the creator wants to be viewed as.  The “Profiles from Alter Ego:  Avatars and their Creators” article shows this role because it displays an image of the creator next to that of their avatar, and then allows them to explain why they choose that avatar.  The main consensus from the three different creators featured in this article is that the creators want people to see them for the type of person they are and not what they physically look like. They use these avatars to escape the physical limitations that cause people to have a certain beliefs about a person before finding out what the person is like on the inside.  The avatar removes the barrier between how a person actually physically looks and focuses on how an individual acts such that you see the true person before you pass judgment.    Avatars would be useful in a classroom setting for those students that are timid, shy, or have a negative self image when assigning group projects.  The students’ avatars could be placed in a social setting and meet one another allowing them to explore each others personalities without the peer pressure of being chosen in group for how you physically look.  Avatars could play a major role in breaking down negative social barriers created by societies vision of the perfect person if the avatars are used in a positive way.

Danah Boyd’s article “Social Network Site Taste Test:  MySpace or Facebook?” addresses the major difference that attract people, teens specifically to that site.  The difference that is the main discrepancy between the two sites is the personalization of someone’s profile.  MySpace allows the user total freedom in choosing their background, layout and even the addition of music.  Facebook, on the other hand, does not.  It gives users minimum control of their profile only letting them choose images and other information to share on the designated background that every user is given.  This difference affects the different groups of friends or people that are drawn to each site.  The preference all depends on taste as the article’s title says, because not everyone wants the crazy colors and flashing letters that MySpace offers, or the boring white and blue that Facebook provides.  However, the article does not address other reasons why someone would prefer one site over the other.  Some prefer Facebook because of the different features, like setting images and videos to be viewed by a select group of people rather than your entire “friends” list.  This makes Facebook easier to use and provides the user with more privacy.  In the end whether someone uses MySpace or Facebook is a choice based solely off of personal preference.

The day I was given the assignment to write a visual rhetoric essay my first thought was oh great an essay.  Writing essays is one of my least favorite things and then to be told I have to write a 1500 word essay did not help.  I dreaded the thought of writing this essay.  However, once I started writing the essay it wasn’t too bad.  I was able to just write about the point that I was trying to make.  Even though the essay wasn’t too bad after I got started, when I came to finishing the essay it was a challenge.  I like that we were given freedom with writing the essay, but I just don’t like writing essays in general.

Susie Orbach’s article “Fat Is an Advertising Issue” addresses the concerns that the Dove brand has had with the way companies go about advertising products, especially when those products are intended for use by young girls and women.  She explains how the ads that we see on a daily basis affect the views we have of ourselves, whether we think we’re tall enough or skinny enough to be accepted by the society that we live in. Many companies advertise their products with models that are tall, skinny, and have perfect bodies stating that all women should look like them.  By Dove going through and reinventing how they advertise their products through the “campaign for real beauty” has allowed women and young girls to look up to real people.  I believe this advertising campaign is an excellent way to show the world what real people actually look like because not everybody looks like the people they see in magazines or on television.  Sometimes even the actresses that are in those other ads cannot recognize themselves due to the retouching that has been done to make them look perfect.  This campaign is an excellent program to provide young girls and women with positive role models that are real people accepting who they are and not trying to be the perfect image driven by the brain washing of other advertising campaign.  

In Chapter 14 Skenazy and Pogue discuss photos and the process that many of us face in sharing them.  Skenazy’s article “Don’t Smile for the Camera” consists of defining the “Kodak moments” in life that many refer too.  However, she addresses the fact that these moments are really myths that we use to portray what we want our family and ourselves to look like to the other people who view them.  She also goes on to include that since we focus on the picture perfect moments that we have “lost the story of our lives” by not recording the images that have shaped who we are and how we have become the people that we are today.  Pogue’s article “Photo Sharing Even the Folks Can Handle” concentrates on the issues that people have with sharing photos over the internet due to the different technology uses between generations, and the limits and restrictions that the different websites have.  He goes through and explains the different features, benefits, and limitations of each website to attempt to bring the reader to the same conclusion as his for which site is the best and simplest to use.  Between these two articles the readers are able to see things in a different way, by being conscious of the “Kodak moments” that they capture and how they go about sharing them.

Photography and how images represent reality play a large role in the society that we live in today.  Whether it is a photograph of the latest celebrity out on a shopping spree, an average person taking a walk down the street, or the tragic aftermath of a natural disaster, these images show the world the reality of whoever is taking the photo.  How this image is taken whether it is via cell phone, digital camera, or through the lens of a professional photographer also plays into the depiction the viewer has of the situation.  The device that the image is recorded on furthermore determines whether or not the image has been distorted from its original form or context.  However, it is the captions that provide an even deeper meaning and understanding to the images that we may view on a daily basis.  These captions provide the viewer with the background information that one may not necessarily receive from just glancing at an image.  It is the captions that allow us today to look back on pictures from the civil war or when America was still the thirteen colonies and be able to comprehend what is happening within that particular image.  This brings me to the conclusion that when people say a picture is worth a thousand words, that we don’t necessarily know what those words are or should be without the thoughts provoked by the caption.  The caption of the image stimulates our thoughts about the reality the image represents.

Analyzing an Ad

Ads surround us every day with the sole purpose of just trying to get people to spend money on their products.  One product’s ad that does this is the Air Swimmers, which is a remote controlled balloon shaped into two different underwater creatures, a clownfish and a shark.  This ad appeals itself to children, teenagers and even parents throughout the country through the different representations of the items within the ad.  The use of the Air Swimmers throughout the ad shows that it can be used for entertainment at children’s birthday parties, at home on a rainy day, or even in a college dorm.  By showing the different activities the Air Swimmer is capable of accomplishing, the ad encourages someone to buy it.  This ad also allows the product to appeal to the emotions of adults because it can be viewed as something that can make an adult feel like a kid again.  However, there is a downfall to this ad, like many others, it does not inform the consumer of the restrictions on using it.  This product is only for use indoors, which is not expressed in the one minute and forty-three second ad.  It is in the fine print on the official Air Swimmers website (http://airswimmers.com/ ) that states this restriction.  Yet, for those like me, the ad was not seen on that website it was viewed on youtube.com, where the information on the product is not completely disclosed.

This ad can be found at:

http://airswimmers.com/

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIJINiK9azc

Political Cartoon

Everyone in America has different priorities, but when it comes to things of actual importance everyone should be on the same page.  The cartoon below addresses the problem that the American people have with setting priorities that are of use or actually important to the improvement of the society that we live in.  This cartoon displays that a third of the American population is more concerned about something like the football lockout, rather than the issues of the economic debt the country is in, the earthquake that was on the east coast, or even the hurricane that recently went through.  The cartoons use of images and words help to convey the idea of the lack of priorities within our country.  Without the words in this image one would not be able to tell what the guy at the end was excited or happy about, since his focus is on something that is more of a leisure activity than one that actually affects the   entire country.  This cartoon appears to focus on that fact that it is the younger generations within our country that are not on the right track because of the age difference displayed between the characters within this cartoon.  This cartoon encourages someone to look back or into the future on things to see if they have their priorities set on a path that is actually useful to society.

Rhetoric in Daily Life

Never knowing what rhetoric was and being told to provide examples that I see on a regular basis seemed like a challenge.  Then after reading the chapter I realized I had spent the past four years eating lunch in my high school cafeteria surrounded by the rhetoric of “Got Milk?” ads, since there was at least two for each wall, while drinking the conveniently provided milk that came with lunch each day.  After this I began thinking about all the posters, signs, and handouts I’ve received being on campus in just these past few days.  All the “Solid Green” campaign items like the recycling bins outside the back of buildings and dorms, even the handy little blue “I recycle” bin that came with my room that try to encourage students to recycle.  I’ve also seen the different posters and handouts trying to get students to join the different religious groups and churches that are around campus; however, these do not come without the incentive of free things.  Then there was the door hanger fittingly placed on the doorknob as I entered my room for the first time encouraging students to “Go Greek”.  I had never imagined rhetoric to be something that would be seen this often on a daily basis.