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.

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.

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.

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.