Thursday, April 30, 2009

Smoke that Cigarette

"Smoke that Cigarette" is a movie that follows a character known as Nick Nailer. Nick is a primary salesman for US tobacco. He spends every day being called the devil and a mass murderer because he is an advocate of cigarettes. Nick is very witty and excellent at proving his points. He teaches us a valuable lesson that in an arguement you dont have to be right, just prove that the other person is not right either.

Multimedia Assignment

For our final project my group decided to do the media and its effects on alcohol and specifically underage drinking. For this assignment, my part was to survey high school and college students. I sent out a survey to my high school and talked to the students at Clemson. I got results from freshmen in high school all the way up to seniors in college. The drinking results were predictable, and nearly everyone said that the media did have an effect on drinking.

Research Paper

After alot of thought I finally decided to do do my research paper on Intelligence Testing. The big question with IQ testing is that some argue that it is a valid means of grouping individuals while others do not. My stand on this issue is that early childhood testing should not be a means of putting a child into a group based on a test that does not use any type of skills other than a paper test.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Iconic Picture



The fall of Saddam Hussein's statue stands as one of the most enduring photographs of the War in Iraq. This picture symbolized the presence of the US in Iraq and the fall of Hussein's terrorist reign. This statue was pulled down early in the war and was preceded by draping the American flag over Saddam.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Words Influencing Pictures

Most people think that you need photoshop or some other program to change a picture, but in reality you do not have to alter the image at all. Photoshop is not only used to change the picture, but another goal is to change the viewers outlook. Most people look at a picture and formulate an opinion based on what is seen, however a persons thoughts about an image can be dictated by simple captions or text explaining the scenario. The best time to manipulate a picture is when it is of poor quality or low resolution. A prime example that is seen very often is "Bigfoot" photos. It is dark in every picture and the resolution is low, but that dark think in the back is always "Bigfoot." A better example is a picture of a building with a few roads around it. The captions around this photo say that it is an IHOP. In a later photograph of the same area the building is a sanitized bunker and cars driving by are UN vehicles. If I would have seen these pictures separately, I would have believed that both were telling the truth. I never realized that words could actually change the entire outlook that viewers have on pictures.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Rudy


Today, I came in my room between classes and the greatest movie of all time was on television. Rudy is my favorite movie because of the story that it tells of one man's drive and will to accomplish what he set his mind to since he was in high school. Once Rudy does accomplish his dream of getting into Notre Dame he does not stop working. He tries out for the football team and makes it. He gives his all every day in practice to make the starters better. With half the talent and size Rudy gets crushed everyday, but the coaches notice. It makes his team mates so mad that Rudy plays every play like he is in the Super Bowl. Rudy is relentless every play and is rewarded in the end. I did this blog on Rudy because of the great story it tells and how it appeals to your emotions. Seeing this movie makes you want to work harder and do more for everyone, just like Rudy.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Possible Research Topic

In just a few weeks our Research Paper is due. I have been thinking about what topic I should write about. I have never written a paper that has to be over 2500 words, so finding a topic that I can effectively write on will be a challenge for me. I have been thinking about what to do, but I have not came to a conclusion. My best thoughts center around farming, so I believe I can construct a good paper if I talk about something related to agriculture. I have not narrowed it down as to what I specifically want to say, but it will most likely deal with some time of farming that I have done before.

Grammar Presentations

In class we were assigned to get with a partner and make a presentation on grammar or mechanics. I paired with Forest and we elected to become masters at parallel structure. We worked for the rest of the class and had a good PowerPoint. We scheduled a time to meet in the library the next day. We only had a little bit left, but Forest's computer fried. So, we had to start all over on the PowerPoint. Our time in the library lasted a little longer than expected, but our second PowerPoint was much better than the first. Needless to say, our presentation went smoothly the next day because we knew the information twice as good.

Paper Conference

After doing our peer reviews we turned our papers in so our teacher could look them over. Mr. Bevill and I had a conference about my paper on the following Thursday. Our talk was brief, but it helped me out tremendously. My paper was too short to begin with, and I could not find a way to make it any longer. Mr. Bevill gave me the idea of adding another ad to my paper and comparing the two. With that suggestion and a few corrections in structure I went back to my dorm and was able to successfully complete the paper so that it was a decent length and more interesting to read.

Peer Reviews

The other day I brought my rough draft for the Visual Rhetoric assignment to class. Our class split into pairs and then traded papers. I was paired with Forest Suggs. His paper was short, but it made some interesting points. The primary thing he talked about in his paper was the change of presidents and Obama's monumental task. He was able to talk about this effectively because of his ad. It was a political cartoon with Obama trying to pull an enormous train up a steep hill. The train symbolized the economy, and the hill was at a ninety degree angle. I looked at this ad for a while and gathered two opposing viewpoints. The first was that there is no way Obama can pull this train. The other was that the hill was going up and Obama was looking up. This made me think that the only way our economy and country can go is up.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Visual Rhertoric (Colgate Ad 2)


This ad uses rhetorical appeals such as color and sex appeal to sell the product. The bright colors around the toothpaste are effective in drawing attention to the product. The slogan "Max Daddy" is also effective in selling this product. When this slogan is put in front of this young man it makes you think of a "Mack Daddy." In comparison with the other Colgate ad that I blogged on earlier, this ad is superior. What makes this ad better is the excellent use of graphics along with the color and text. This ad appeals to the buyers logical senses. Logically, it is desireable to be a "Max Daddy."

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Visual Rhetoric Image p.21 at a galnce


This image attempts to pursuade the audience into buying the latest versin of "air jordan" basketball shoes. There are not very many things going on in this image except Micheal Jordan unveiling his new shoe. Element that are there for alalyzation are how sharply Micheal Jordan is dressed and how the light shines down upon him from the top left corner. The audience is directed at anyone who plays basketball. The the best player ever is holding his shoe to make people think about how glorious these shoes must be if they came from MJ. This image is fairly simple in the number of things going on, but Micheal Jordan is dressed very sharply and his appearance adds to the glory of his new shoes.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Visual Rhetoric thesis


This Colgate toothpaste advertisement uses several effective rhetorical strategies that would persuade an audience into action. The rhetorical strategies that would move and convince an audience into purchasing this product are the color effects, the different ways that it appeals to your senses, and humor. Text is even used in attracting the attention of an audience.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Visual Rhetoric (drunk driving ad)


Visual Rhetoric can touch the audiences emotional senses through Pathos or "the pathetic appeal." This is an appeal to the audiences emotions. This ad shows that drunk driving can land you in a wheelchair. What makes it even better is that the seat is replaced by a toilet. The toilet appeals to the audiences by showing the simple things that would be difficult to do if handicapped by a drunk driving incident. There is also Logos or "rational appeal" in this ad. The logical appeal is that it is not rational to take the risk of getting behind the wheel drunk.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Rhetoric

Walking to class today I noticed different types of rhetoric. First I stepped out of my dorm room and saw a sheet of computer paper that said BEER in capitalized and bold letters. I went up to this sign and read the smaller print. It was a sign that someone put up offering to pick up drunk people that needed a ride. The large print that said BEER was just to attract attention. I kept walking and at the ground floor of my dorm was a huge Pineapple Express poster. The poster had a large picture of two characters acting crazy. In smaller print was an invitation to watch the movie in the student lounge. I pressed on and came to the dining hall. In the window was a sign that said "The Fresh Food Company." The text was surrounded by fresh vegetables. After eating I noticed a sign for Gillette shampoo. This sign contained a shirtless guy with ripped abs and clean hair. All of these signs caught my eye. The visual rhetoric was superior to the verbal in all of the signs except for the BEER sign. I found that the BEER sign was most subtle because it had no pictures and lacked color. The body rhetoric of the Gillette sign was catchy, but I still found the visual rhetoric in the Fresh Food sign to be the most evident and persuasive.