Friday, October 30, 2009

Discovery Research

Part 1: Something in my research that surprised me or was a "discovery" for me is that, about cyber bullying, girls are mostly affected by it, kids starting from sixth and grade up have been victims of cyber bullying, or they were the bully.

Part 2: New media gives the chance for anyone to get on the internet and harass someone through the internet. They can do it through major social websites, or chat rooms. Anyone can become a victim of cyber bullying. It may not seem like a big deal to people, but when you see on the news that someone commits suicide, because of cyber bullying it becomes an issue. Also want to write about how it usually effects people in all ages, but mostly focus on the affects it has on teens and teenagers.

Part three:
Cause/effect: Harassment, humiliation, embarrassment causes teens and teenagers to want to remove themselves from that place or situation. It will make someone not enjoy life, and possibly kill themselves.
Statistics: Teens and teenagers are more likely to become victims of cyber bullying and new media is what influences it.
Authority: I want to find something from the psychology department, that explains how bullies get to the person in psychological way.
Testimonial: I have found that parents really want to do something about this, because it starts off as a small problem and if not stopped can lead to something terrible.

So far..

Part one: On e of the things that surprised me on my research so far is that people that watch less T.V. are more likely to read a book than those that watch more T.V. Another thing that surprised me was that people who have books displayed or around are more likely than those that don’t to read.
Part two: New media gives students tools for them to learn, and they develop other skills that they might not have developed. New media on the other hand, is has created for more leisure activities. Now as students enter their teenager years, they are more likely to substantially reduce reading activities and spend their time on blogs, networking, and playing video games.
Part three:
Cause/effect: Because students are reading less, this is going to impact many sectors of life. Reading scores will decrease and so will literacy.
Statistics: Younger students are more likely to read than teenagers and new media is a big portion of that gap.
Authority: I want to find something for the department of Education that states the importance of reading and what difference it can and will make in the future.
Testimonial: I have been reading from and CQ Research article that teachers need new media because that is what the modern world is dependent on and it is a form of literacy.

What I've found

I was surprised to learn about the DADT (Dont ask, don't tell) policy regarding gays in the military, and how an investigation can occur just based on a suspicion that someone is gay.

Some major perspectives: Gays should be allowed in the military. Gays should not be allowed to serve in the Military. New media includes useful tools for expressing opinions about gays in the military. New media is not helpful for activism regarding gay rights. i think I might make an argument about how new media includes useful tools that show how gays should be allowed to serve in the military.

Opposing Viewpoints--- In order to really understand how I feel about this topic, I will research the opposing viewpoints by dividing this whole big complex issue into parts and developing my thoughts about them.

Testimonial--- I think that with my topic, I will be able to look at blogs and facebook groups about gays in the military and I plan to quote these types of sources directly to add a personal touch to my paper.

Authority--- I expect to find an official governmental statement about this policy that I can refer to in my paper and analyze on my own without reading other places about people's reactions to it.

Cause and Effect--- as I discuss a history of the development of civil engagement online, I can share information about what technological developments caused other means of expressing opinion online to arise.

Discoveries

Part One: I am doing my research on the effects new media has on jr. high/high school students. I was surprised to find many articles on cyber bullying. There were several articles with stories about young teens committing suicide after being made fun of through the internet and texting. Sad world.

Part two: 1. Texting between parents and children strengthens relationships and diminishes parents "nagging." 2. New Media allows bullies to say harsh things without confrontation and influences students for the worse. 3. Parents are better able to help their children with school, because of online grades and email communication with their teachers. 4. New Media allows students to connect all over the world and learn more about different cultures.. From the research I've done thus far there is a lot of positive and negative effects of new media on young teenagers, but with strong family relationships and monitoring it can improve their life in aspects of writing, socializing, learning, and creating.

Part three: 1. Antecedent and consequence: One consequence of the rise of social networking is cyber bullying, where students say harsh things via the internet that they would not say face to face. 2. Division of whole into parts: New Media effects teenagers study habits, social skills and relationships, and their perception of the world. 3. Testimonials: A teenage boy committed suicide after long term bullying and rumors of his sexuality being passed through the internet. 4. Division into essence and accidents: New Media is simply the effect of increasing technology, specifically in communication, and the good/bad influence it has on teenagers is simply an unplanned consequence.

Online Medical Services

Part 1. What is something in your research that has surprised you/was a “discovery” for you?
Part 2. What are 3 or 4 of the major perspectives on your topic/what main arguments are being made? What argument do you think that you might make about this topic?
Part 3. Consult with my presentation on the topics of invention (click on those words–it’s a link even though it’s hard to tell) and/or Writing and Rhetoric Chapter 6 (page 111-114). Choose 4 of the topics of invention and write 1-2 sentences for each on how you might use this topic of invention in your paper, making specific reference to your issue.

In researching background for my paper, I discovered a new term: e-patients. It is used in reference to those individuals who use online medical information for their health care needs.

Some people question the credibility of online medical information. They argue that clinical assistance is the more trustworthy source. Others express fears that a transfer to online health care will harm health care providers. Still others propose that online health care is the future of medical assistance.

Comparison by difference: I could use this topic of invention to contrast the pros and cons of online versus clinical health care information. I would then prove which is more desirable.

Division of Whole into Parts: I could use this topic of invention to explore the many ways that online medical information is used by e-patients and formulate an argument to prove its usefulness in today's society.

Authority: I could use this topic of invention to prove whether or not online medical information is credible by citing the opinions and statements of authority figures and trusted sources.

Testimonials: I could use this topic to prove whether or not online medical information is credible by relating people's first-hand experiences with it. I would need multiple stories and quotes that describe the individuals' experiences with online health care services.

Discoveries in Research

1. Something that has surprised me or been new to me is that some people can go extremely overboard in the priority of using their cell phone. One article I read talked about how one lady was watching a broadway music concert, and made such a huge fuss that she caused the show to stop until she was done with her call. How absolutely ridiculous and unethical!!! What is this world coming to with this new media??? On the flip side, it has been extremely beneficial to the safety of society. In the same article, it said around 100,000 calls are made daily from the cell phone to 911 in attempts to save people's lives. New media definitely has its pros and cons.

2. My topic in new media I am writing about is texting. I am going to write about how texting has influenced individuals to speak and act, how texting has effected communication between groups of people, and how texting has changed society. The arguments that are being made include that texting has changed the way individuals speak and act, and not necessarily for the better. Texting has effected communication by short, concise, vague, and incomplete. Texting has also changed society by the way people view themselves and how they act as a community and society. Some of the arguments that I am going to make is the pros versus the cons of texting and how to find a good balance between each.

3. These are the topics of invention I will use and specific examples of how that will be executed:
A. Comparison By Difference: I will use this invention by showing the pros of texting (convenient, fast) and the cons of texting (rude, incomplete).
B. Division of Whole into Parts: I will show how texting has influenced individuals to speak and act differently, has effected communication between groups of people, and has changed the way society looks at themselves and each other.
C. Contradictions: Is texting good or bad? Is it both? Is it neither? There are both pros and cons to texting. I will write about how these contradictions can be balanced for a healthy individual, relationships, and society.
D. Testimonial: CONFESSION: I have been addicted to texting at a couple points in my life (lol jk - there's my evidence). I will use my own experiences from my hard-knocks way of life to show how texting has effected me personally, my relationship with my family and friends, and how it's changed my family as a whole, my school environment and more.

I think texting has a huge impact on the individual, relationships and society. In all honestly, I am kind of looking forward to doing the research and writing about this topic. I think it is really interesting, especially since it is a big part of my life.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Discoveries in Research

I don't know if this is the type of 'surprise' the prompt is looking for, but I didn't know how easy it was to find scholarly articles on a subject. Being at BYU obviously helps, but even so, would have been really nice for other classes.

My topic is on the effect of internet use on social skills. One perspective is that over-use of the internet can lead to an addiction which leads to bad social skills, depression, and anxiety. Another keeps the claim that these things are connected, but argues that the bad social skills, depression, and anxiety lead to over-use of and addiction to the internet. Basically saying that people go to the internet as a crutch. A third perspective simply says that there is no causal link between the two at all. "Correlation does not mean causation" theory. I think I most agree with the first one and will most likely be the argument that I try to add to.

Division of whole into parts - I could explain what Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) is and divide it into the symptoms associated and how each are influenced/caused by over-use of the internet

Antecedent and Consequence - "One consequence of the increased use of the internet is a increased occurrence of depression and lack of social skills among college aged people." Something like that.

Testimonial - I have a blog article written by a woman who claims that the internet has affected her social skills in a bad way. I could use that as an introduction.

Statistics - I have data showing the correlation of depression among young people to the amount of internet use. Mostly among college aged students.

Discoveries in Research

Part 1: In my research, something that was a discovery for me was that those who download free music off of the internet (ex: Limewire) are actually performing an illegal activity by breaking the copyright laws and all that good stuff. It's interesting because I'm sure a lot of us are doing just that. Why buy songs on iTunes when you can get free songs via file sharing? What also is interesting is that so many people do it that the government cannot successfully crack down on this issue.

Part 2: The main arguments on this issue of downloading music and video on the internet (without paying) consist of: 1) So many people are doing it that it should be accepted and even encouraged. 2) It breaks copyright laws and weakens the recording industry and cd/movie sales. 3) Certain file sharing websites should be banned because they are giving away music for free as well as negatively affecting the sales of cd's. I think I may side with the argument that file sharing should be allowed because of the sheer amount of people participating in it.

Part 3:
1) Comparison by Similarities-I can use this topic of invention in my paper by comparing different file sharing websites and discover how they are similar in their purposes.
2) Division of Whole into Parts-This can be applied to my paper because I can divide different arguments of the issue of downloading music into more specific, focused parts.
3) Definition by Class/Category-This can definitely be used in my paper. Some may define file sharing as a convenient way to get the music they love, but others may define it as illegal or unconstitutional.
4) The Witness Stand Testimonial-I can attribute this topic of invention to my paper by bringing up certain examples of those who are constantly participating in file sharing.

Discoveries in Research

Part 1:
I hadn't realized the media censorship was an issue currently happening in the world. We have talked about the theory in my comms class, but I kind of thought it was still really new as far as legislation. I probably should have guessed this, but in China, as well as in other parts of the world, there is already really strict regulations on the internet. This will be an interesting view.

Part 2:
There are really an almost infinite number of views taken on this subject because everyone thinks that it sould be regulated at a slightly different level. There are also different arguements on the way of enforcing censorship of internet--some believe it should be legislation, others believe it should be enforced by internet providers. There is also the issue of who decides the content that should be censored. I think I may need to narrow my topic in order to effectively take one side on the issue.

Part 3:
Precidents can be used in my arguement because right now we have a level of censorship that have been set as appropriate. There are arguements on both sides of this precident.
Statistics will be useful to examine the conent that people are viewing on the internet. This is also an issue about which the public has a view. There might be stats about the public opinion on this issue.
This is such a multi-sided issue that I will need to divide my issue no matter how I narrow it.
I can talk about problems and solutions or analyze just the problems or just the issues.
Antecedents and concequences are one of the main issues in my paper. There are many people worried about the effect that internet has on people.

Discoveries in Research

Through my research at the library, I was overwhelmed with out how much information there is on any one topic. I always thought the worst part of research papers was the research. However given the resources in the library, it was really fun jumping from one source to another, looking for good information to use.

For my research paper, some of my major points include:
1. Positive impacts on the film industry due to new media/People focus too much on the negativity from piracy
2. How Hollywood uses the internet for advertisement.
3. How movie reviews changed due to the internet.
4. How Hollywood should counter the piracy problem

Statistics: I could use statistics to compare movie attendance and sales revenue due to the new mdea.

Testimonial: People involved in the film industry possibly could leave insight on some success they've found in new media to help their movies succeed.

Precedents: The music industry had to deal with illegal downloads long before the same level of attention was given to movies. One could also make comparisons between the two situations.

Cause and Effects: Because of the scrutiny movies receive through hundreds of critics on new media and the piracy issue, Hollywood has to find new ways to draw audiences in.
Part One: Something that I have found out through my research is that not all people thought switching education to the internet was a good idea. Some experts said that it was a bad idea and would never take off.They were wrong.

Part Two: i) The internet makes research easier
ii) Education is now available to more people
iii) The internet helps people communicate

I think that the internet has opened many doors in education. People can now communicate with others across the world to compare results from their research and debate topics or get a different opinion on topics. The internet has also made it possible for people to gain a higher education at a cheaper price.


Part Three: i) Division of whole into parts: I will look at how the internet has effected each level of education from elementary to graduate school. I will also look at how the internet has brought education to those who did not have access to it before.

ii) Testimonial: I will look at actual people who are first generation college graduates and see how the internet has effected their education.

iii) Authority: I will research what professors are saying about using the internet in education because they are the ones who are supposed to know the most about educating other people and hopefully they will know the best way to use the internet and all of its benefits.

iv) Statistics: I will attempt to show that there is an increase of the number college diplomas since the internet was added to education.

Research

Part 1:
Something that surprised me: that people have actually done research on this subject. Video games are fairly new to the world and yet tests and social studies have been done.

Part 2:
Computer games are detrimental to a persons social health in that face to face interactions are cut off for long periods of time.

Computer games have positive effects and are just like the 'real world' in that the same rules of social activity are needed to be a functional persona who can make friends in 'social games.'

Social gaming, is a double edge sword.

I think I will take the 2nd or 3rd argument. Rather, it might have a more positive feel than a passive one.

Part 3:

1. Antecedence and consequence - People in this debate are arguing the effects of social gaming, and the only way to see the effects of social gaming are to see the consequences of playing a social computer game than living a social life.
2. Like the above, the cause and effect of video games.
3. Science lab - the use of studies on how people's social lives have actually been affected by the use of social video games.
4. Differences - how people who play social video games and people who life a social life differ in their interactions in a social event.

Research

[Part One] What's surprised me while researching is how many reliable resources there are available through the internet.
[Part Two] Some believe that embryonic stem cell research is not okay because it is messing with a life, making it unethical. Others argue that it is not yet and does not ever reach the point of becoming a living being, making it an amazing opportunity in the world of science. There are others that believe that stem cell reseearch is only okay in the case of adult stem cells. I think i will be taking the first point of view for the most part.
[Part Three] Division of whole into parts: I could use this in helping me better understand my topic by understanding the issues surrounding it.
Cause and effect: With an issue like mine it is important to build up my argument, and having good "causes" will do that.
Antecedent and consequence: This goes along with the cause and effect. This will help make my argument more fullproof.
Statistics: Statistics could provide some strength to my argument. The statistics on stem cells and the uses they could provide.

Discoveries in Research

Part 1: One thing I have found during my research is that Country music is in the top three of music that is effecting children in a bad way. I was surprised because I never really thought it was bad, because most of it sounds good.

Part 2: Major Perspectives
1. Suggestive lyrics of popular music are harmful to children's development.
2. Much of the positive of pop music lyrics is often overshadowed by the perception of offensiveness.
3. Much of the pop music available to children is offensive, misogynistic, and vulgar.
I am taking the side that says that suggestive lyrics are harmful.

Part 3: Topics of Invention
1. Comparison by difference: I might be able to use comparison by difference by comparing music that has good lyrics and comparing it to the lyrics that are bad and influence children in a bad way.
2. Statistics: I could use lots of the statistics that have been found showing how bad lyrics are effecting youth and the things that they do.
3. Cause and effect: I can show the different examples of how bad lyrics are influencing children to do bad things, such as the two suicides that they connected back to some music that they were listening to.
4. Maxims: With the rise of bad lyrics and media in the world, there will be a rise in crime and such things.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Discoveries in Research

1.It surprised me at how hard it was to find scholarly articles. I do realize that my topic of Social Networking Websites is newer so it would not have as much information on it.
2.Major arguments: 1. Social networking websites are bad for children. 2. Social networking websites are costing firms millions of dollars. 3. Social networking websites enable companies to expand. I think that I would like to focus on what the websites do to children, but I would also like to bring in how it helps companies expand.
3.Topics of Invention: 1. Definition by category: What I could do with this topic in my paper is break up the types of social networking websites into categories and then say how and why they are in these categories. I would also be able to say what purpose each category has. 2. Cause and effect: I can explain the cause and effect of social networking websites on children and how it is hurting them or as some would argue is helping them. Kids that use social networking websites are actually less social. 3. Authority: I could use articles of very qualified doctors and neuroscientists that say these social networking websites are bad for children. This would be a good authority because they are very professional sounding. 4. Statistics: I could use statistics when showing how companies benefit from social networking websites and how much money they are saving and making. On the other hand I can show with statistics how much money firms are loosing. Statistics make it seem much more real.

Monday, October 26, 2009

RA Publishing

I sent my essay around my hall and told my hallmates to give it a look. My roommate said that it was a nice essay but it was boring. He said to him it was just another essay that he has read. And I will agree with him, it was just another essay. I think my strategy of telling people to read an essay they are not interested in does not work. So, I guess it was too boring in general.

RA Publishing

I decided to share my analysis via Facebook. I didn't receive many comments back because I think the article was too long and not presented to the right audience. I also published my analysis on the Write New Media blog spot, it received more attention as it was presented to the correct audience. My analysis was a more mature topic and wouldn't appeal to a younger audience explaining the success of the article on Facebook, which is a younger audience. The few comments responses I had didn't talk about my analysis or the effectiveness of my paper, but rather the issue of the original author.

Rhetorical Publishing

I decided to share it with my friends from out of town, and my family members. Most of my friends are girls, so they enjoyed my analysis. My parents were just proud that I was kind enough to share with them, just kidding, they enjoyed my paper. I was pretty content with my paper and I'm glad that everyone else did too, or at least my family members and friends.

Rhetorical Publishing

I posted my rhetorical paper on Facebook. I did this because I have been adding more BYU students so I thought that they would comment, but they didn't. I don't think they commented because the subject of Tehran did interest them a lot.At first when I knew that we were going to publish this, I wanted to make sure that the look was appealing to the eye. This because most of the time you read what looks good.
For my rhetorical analysis I published it on the class blog. I did this because I didn't really know how to publish it anywhere else. When I was writing the paper it was hard to forget that others would be reading this analysis and that they would probably not agree with my opinion. But, overall, I was confident that my writing had been done to the best of my abilities. For the comments that I received about my post, I didn't receive very many. I had only three people comment on my paper. One was a lady that I know back home and the other two where some of my close friends. To encourage people to read my analysis I posted a link on Facebook, but not many took any time to read it. But the comments that I got where encouraging. I think that my analysis what I had wanted it to do, get people to go to the site and really enjoy it, and on all of my comments they mentioned that they became more interested in visiting the site after reading my analysis. I think that I didn't reach as many of my intended audience, but I know that I tried.

R.A. Publishing

I only posted my article on this blog, because I didn't really want to put it up on Facebook. I'm very self-conscience about my writing, and I don't want others to judge my intelligence through my writing because I don't think I'm very good. (I might have said the exact same thing on my previous publishing reflection post, but oh well). This time, however, I did give the link to my friends to have them read it. I always enjoyed reading my friends writing so I figured that I should return the favor. I think my friends enjoyed reading the article because I got (very) positive feedback. Most of my friends enjoy reading the Onion or have the same type of humor displayed in the Onion, so they definitely enjoyed my article. I hope you guys read it too! I tried to make it as fun and easy to read as possible by cutting up my paragraphs and having pictures throughout the entire article.

Lost in the Crowd

I published a link to my analysis in a comment that I made on the original cinnamon roll recipe web page but because there are so many hundreds of comments, no one bothers to scroll down and read them all, and there was no feedback to what I had said. But I also consider that anyone that was on that web page was probably already convinced to make the cinnamon rolls and didn't need to read about why they felt inclined to do so. It's cool to think that my stuff is out there for people to see.

R. A. Publishing

I posted my rhetorical analysis on this blog. It did not turn out like I had hoped simply because I had issues uploading pictures. It looks much, much better in a Word document. I haven't gotten any comments on it but I don't think it makes much difference now anyways.

I think it's somewhat intimidating to people to bring up a blog and have a lengthy body of text in front of them. Generally speaking, blog posts are usually little blurbs or a paragraph about something that happened, which makes them easy to read. An entire essay or analysis would probably be better off in a different setting that is a little more formal where a lot of text is expected.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Rhetorical Analysis Publication

I recently started my own blog (thanks to this class) and I posted my analysis there. I don't get very many comments as it is so I wasn't surprised when I didn't get any. My mom did read it and said it was good - that's what moms are for right? A lot of my extended family keeps in touch with each other through blogs and my grandpa was just diagnosed with cancer. I guess writing about hope was good timing.

I think if I would have written a "please comment" comment then I would have received more response, but I also think the length made it difficult to get more readers. I felt a lot more confident with this paper than the opinion editorial, so that is a plus.

Publishing My Rhetorical Analysis

I posted my rhetorical analysis on Facebook. I find that this is an efficient and simple way to publish my writing because a good amount of my friends will read it and leave feedback. I have received one comment so far and it is a positive response. Knowing that I would be publishing this affected the way I wrote it. I tried to keep it as inviting and attractive as possible. It challenged me to craft an informative yet entertaining read. My Facebook audience is a real audience, not an artificial one. The publishing of my writings helps me to consider the audience to a great extent.

Publishing My Rhetorical Analysis :)

So, I published my rhetorical analysis through facebook. I posted a note that included a link to the blog. I got a lot of feedback from this. Everyone loved the topic and agreed with the claims being made. I also received some advice on how to make my article a little more reader-friendly. Publishing through facebook was quite effective.

Facebook Publishing

I decided to publish my rhetorical analysis on facebook this time. I invited tons of people to comment on my blog post and even gave them the URL to get to it. Unfortunately, I only got to comments back on it. One was from Charlee. She really like that it included a video. I personally think this make the post more interactive and keeps people interested. The other comment was from my mom. She didn't realize how much thought went into advertising. She also said that using all those tools was probably the reason so many people buy things they don't really need.

Knowing I was going to publish this article, I tried to make it interesting to the audience. I tried to keep it simple and explain my reasoning throughly. I also add a video to make the post interactive. I was hoping this would entice the audience to keep reading.

Ra publishing

I published my rhetorical analysis on facebook and told my friends to check it out. I didn't get a lot of comments back. I think that it was too long to appeal to people using facebook. It was an interesting topic and my friends would have enjoyed reading it, but no one wanted to spend that much time on it. The few comments I got were mostly about the issue and not my analysis.

I tried to publish on a couple of other pages that declared martinlutherking.org to be a hate site, but for most of them joining in order to leave a comment was too complicated. On the one site I did comment on, I haven't heard back.

Rhetorical Analysis Publishing

The biggest and perhaps one of the only reactions I got from people who read my analysis was that they wanted to go to the site. I guess that means I did an effective job of explaining the site because after reading it, people wanted to go to the site. My roommate said that she liked my imagery, how I explained the site. I feel there isn't that much to analyze about an analysis, but that's what I got from people I shared it with.

Rhetorical Analysis Publishing

So I just posted it here on this blog and told a bunch of people about it. People from home, from my sports teams from forever ago, and it got around. Sadly, most of the reaction was to the issue, and not so much to my analysis of the article. They were more interested in the the topic than what I had to say. The only thing that really got any attention that had something to do with what I wrote was that they agreed with my conclusion that if the author actually wanted something to change, he was writing to the wrong audience. Which is kind of ironic because maybe I was writing to the wrong audience as well. They didn't seem to care much about his rhetoric, just the sports he was writing about. It was probably more of an artificial audience, a real audience would have been if I had posted it on his article, could have been interesting, but at the same time, the article doesn't get hits anymore since the IOC made it's decision. So i wouldn't have had very many comments anyway i think.

A Closer Look: Audience Response

I had my roommates and other students that live near me read my paper and asked them to give me their responses. I would have liked to get a wider range of audience, but was unable to for lack of time. I didn't get very much feedback, but most of the people who read my analysis agreed that the rhetorical techniques either added to or took away from the peice as a whole. Surprisingly, a lot of people weren't really concerned with the issue, which means that it has probably lost some of its kairotic value in the past few months. Either that or people just feel that whatever happens with the new health care plan will happen, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. This lack of interest also may have been attributed to the fact that I gave my analysis to all college students, who, although more involved in national goings-on than a younger audience, are still very distracted by the worlds they live in.
My audience often said that they wouldn't have noticed all of the tools that I pointed out in my analysis had they simply looked at the website by itself. In pointing out the tools that were used to help persuade the audience, I was able to help them make an even better evaluation of the situation than without an analysis of rhetorical techniques.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Publishing my article

Knowing that I was going to publish my article didn't effect what I wrote. I already had that mind set, so it didn't need to be changed too much. I posted my article as a note on facebook. Only one person commented. I think the subject of the article was intimidating, because who really cares about an analysis on planning a wedding magazine? I thought more people would read and comment, but I guess not! I think the length was intimidating. Maybe if it was shorter, and on a different subject it would have been read more. I think my audience was artificial. I don't know anyone getting married, or else I think it would have been different.

Rhetorical Analysis Publishing

I posted my Analysis on this blog site and also on facebook. I was not exactly sure where I was going to publish it when I was writing it, but i still had an audience that I was trying to get to. So keeping that in mind I just wrote it so that everyone would benefit from it. The reactions I got were basically what I expected, everyone on facebook was wondering why I was writing about Harry Potter, and most said that they would not be reading it if it was not me who wrote it. Getting good positive is hard and if I really wanted that I should have posted it on some kind of Harry Potter blog because those people actually care. I believe the audience I posted it to was artificial because they really wouldn't want to read it. Either way I got some good comments about the writing from other people on the facebook post.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Stardust: A Trail of Adventure, etc.

Entertainment in one form or another takes up a large part of our free time. Whether we go with friends, on a date, or alone, the movie theater is a popular attraction for us. From romance to action, thought-provoking to thoughtless, comedy to drama, there are movies for everyone. Stardust falls under a variety of genres as demonstrated by the website based off of the movie. While dominantly a visual and audio-based website, word text is also incorporated in the form of excerpts of reviews from various critics which fade from one to the next on the main screen. By using entertaining and insightful elements and giving a description of the characters and places in Stardust, the creators of the website convince the audience that Stardust the movie is appealing and worth the time to watch and even the money to buy.

In creating the website, Paramount Pictures created an opportunity for fans and people who haven't seen the movie alike to discover more about most aspects of the movie with mini character biographies, cast list, synopsis, soundtrack list, videos, photo gallery, etc.



The site is aimed at movie-goers who like fantasy, a good romance, even adventure. One selected quote from a critic's review is intended to draw young single adults with the claim, "One of the best date movies of the year." The idea is to spark the interest of at least one person who will in turn convince a group of friends to watch it for a group date. Hopefully then the snowball effect will begin and those from the one group will tell friends from another group and so on. This is not only available to the U.S. either. The entire site can be viewed in a number of languages which creates an international feel and connection.



In addition to the adult movie-goers, the interactive games on the site entice an even younger crowd to become part of the movie itself. Each game depicts a scene and characters from the movie and when played they allow you to vicariously do things that were done in the movie. The game linked here is called "Push That Prince." In this game you try to sneak up on the prince standing by a precariously high window and push him out.

http://www.stardustmovie.com/assets/games/prince/

Once the intended audience is swept in, they will find desktop backgrounds and screen savers for the computer to continually remind them of the fun they had in watching Stardust. If others who haven't seen Stardust happen to see the background, their curiosity could be struck and cause them to wonder whether or not they would enjoy the movie as well. Within the site you can move from one page to another and "visit" the different locations found in the movie and learn about the characters. For those like myself who enjoy movie music there is a page that lists the soundtrack information. Overall this site has been made to be fun and enjoyable to view.

Before coming to the main page, there is an initial page with options to buy Stardust on DVD or HD DVD, or to enter the site. Upon entering the Stardust movie website, you hear a voice clip of actor Ian McKellan speaking of a philosopher's words about people and stars: "Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?" He then says, "Pointless, really. Do the stars gaze back? Now that's a question!" This promotes viewers to think a little deeper about the whole context of Stardust and the concept of what a falling star really is. When the dialogue finishes, selections from the soundtrack will play and continue to do so throughout the duration of exploring the site unless you opt to turn off the sound. The music that plays gives a feel of adventure and exploring the unknown and potentially makes the viewer feel slightly adventurous and curious about what is out there in the world to see; or at least in the website. The website is very interactive and every time you place the arrow over a menu item to maneuver to a different page it makes the sound of either a bird or crickets. The cricket noises specifically add to the main page which is a view of the Village of Wall in the distance, the wall itself in the foreground, all under the cover of night while stars are continually falling in the night sky above.

Overall, the Stardust movie website is designed to convince those who view it that Stardust is a fun and enjoyable movie that can be applied to many human appeals such as adventurous, romantic, daring, fantasy. It is also designed to give an idea of who the characters are, the places in the movie, and what the premise is. Once the audience is convinced, the next step is for them to watch or ultimately buy the movie.

With a slightly juvenile tone created by the interactive games, the site loses some of the effectiveness for at least part of the adult audience. The game tasks are very simple to complete, the graphics aren't that intricate and are slow-moving. However, the juvenile aspect does not deter completely, and may even be an attraction for some because they have children or perhaps enjoy that sort of interactivity themselves.

The creators of the site show an awareness of the audience and the time frame in which the audience lives mostly through the fact that the text is a website. The audience is part of the digital and technological age when practically anything can be found on the internet. By whatever means people find this website whether it be to find out more about the movie before watching it, wanting to experience more of the fun from the movie, or being directed to it in order to write a paper on it, I personally found it quite effective in its goal of getting people to watch Stardust one way or another. Ever since I started looking at it to get a feel for it, I have wanted to watch Stardust.

It is not difficult when viewing the site to become enthralled in what it has to offer and wind up spending a good amount of time looking at what has been created to entice imagination and wonder among whoever views it. Why should you become one of many to begin the journey into the world of Stardust? Well, for one thing it would be nice to see in detail what has been described in this writing. But even more than that, it has been made for you to give you the opportunity to discover a world different from our own where a falling star means something entirely different. Go, explore, enjoy. I certainly did.

Dove's Campaign For Real Beauty


Dove’s Shift of Interest
Dove is known for commercials featuring soap without residue, lotion that moisturizes for twenty-four hours, and deodorant that smooths razor bumps on the underarms. Not until recently has the Dove corporation extended
the challenge of acceptance to themselves; a large profit corporation in the beauty industry. With the idea that beauty is something acquired out of a bottle, an idea that is photographed and filmed, composed of certain textures and colors that are acceptable, and further, a number on the scale. Although the image of beauty was reaping profit for Dove, they felt a different angle of advertising was needed. What they needed was something different than all the other companies; what they found is a new image of beauty. Dove goes where all the other industries dared not, to the consumer. Rather than upholding the idea that our products will change you into someone “beautiful”, Dove says, our products will show your individual beauty. With this in mind, Dove set forward with the Campaign for Real Beauty.

Appeal to Consumers
As a consumer, one will notice the continual pressures as to what a woman should look like; thin body, long hair, short hair, curly hair, straight hair, blond hair, black hair, pale skin, tan skin, freckles, dimples, long eyelashes and on and on. I think the overall rhetorical purpose of the campaign is to readdress what constitutes beauty. The idea of beauty is in the hands of peers and dove wishes to address this subject. They hope to inspire trust and understanding of all women, which
will in turn, sway them to buy dove products. The idea that a corporation would take the time and money to defy society’s norm, in order to please the consumer is very appealing. I think that it has a great deal of kairos, especially. because of models’ thinning throughout the fashion industry. Now is a time in history where “different” is accepted and sometimes even exalted above the ordinary. No matter what the appearance, Dove extends the challenge to accept others as beautiful, and more importantly yourself.

Blue Themed Page
Blue as a background color is effective in many ways. One way is how blue signifies the openness of a mind to new ideas or freedom of thought and is also very ethos appealing due to the soft hue. Psychologically cooler hues are used to calm the viewer, due to the naturist fact that blue is in the sky and essential element water. Blue works positively to draw the audience in by showing the carefree feeling of being accepted as beautiful. Also the blue shows the cool and calm idea of truth, which they are convincing the viewers of .The white as a background is the ultimate sign of purity and peace. Purity and peace offset the overwhelming battle of beauty media versus one’s positive self-image.
Also, ethos due to the soothing aspect of the white space, which helps draw attention to main objects on the page. It helps viewers focus on the blue objects of importance. The two combined create cleanliness and an idea
of simplicity. The theory of simplicity and cleanliness is a direct contradiction with other beauty companies who show drastically complex and busy advertisements. The blue image of the world shows how universal beauty is, and that dove is accomplishing something international. This type of unity that a buyer would feel is logos; that you are participating in something greater than yourself. Not only are you contributing to yourself, but others helps the campaign philosophy to progress. A campaign such as this shows the buyer that dove is more than just beauty products and a consumer is more than what beauty products make them.

Small Text, Big Statements
The “dove self-esteem fund”, this is one of two phrases on the clean
page. The dove corporation shows that not only is the image and opinion of beauty on the brink of change, but that through changing and accepting many kinds of beauty, self esteem around the world will increase; a worthy cause for a few dollars. Dove draws a simple but profound correlation between beauty and self-esteem. With the acceptance of beauty and self-esteem being intermingled, a consumer or donor can see the importance of the campaign. The other text on the page is “campaign for real beauty worldwide”. The use of the word campaign shows that it is a cause to be fought for. Real beauty worldwide is implying that we don’t see everyone in the world as beautiful, and addresses this issue to the viewer to breakdown that bias and help others to feel beautiful by donating. Above the collage of young girls the statement “Redefining beauty in their own words” is placed. Pathos is used in the previous phrase mainly to emphasize the positive effects the dove campaign have had on young girls. True the dove campaign helps all ages of women see their beauty, but they chose the younger generation to produce a more pathetic issue.

Pictures Worth 2,000 Words
Next there are the pictures grouped in three sections. Another good use of space: threes. The first is of two women, one old one young, perhaps mother daughter. They are hugging, which assumes that if esteem and
beauty are high, positive relations will be. Another mix of pathos and logos. The next pictures are of two young girls. Both of diverse ethnicities, and in plain clothing. A viewer would recognize the ordinary clothing of the girls
because it is never seen in advertisements, this true life picture shows the ability to be yourself. The diversity of the girls depicts to the viewer the importance of helping those in need, and challenges them to see the beauty in everyone, even simple, cute girls such as are presented. Perhaps the most famous photos form the campaign are those of women in white undergarments. The simple white again is presented, as to not distract from the beauty of the models. The simple face that they are in intimate clothing sends the statement of confidence and self acceptance. The women are of all different hair colors, skin color, height and weight; further confirming that beauty is universal.

Is the Dove Campaign a Crusade?
Speculation could be brought upon the Dove Corporation. Some questions have been raised as to a campaign such as this is helpful to Dove. One would ask, Is Dove doing this for profit? What were Dove’s intentions? It is common knowledge that consumers would wish to support a cause and will buy Dove product. Is Dove simply using our emotions to sell a new company image? All of these questions are reasonable to ponder and are even necessary to wonder if one is to be a informed buyer. One is bombarded with tools of rhetoric everyday to make you think and feel certain ways, and as outlined, Dove was very successful at this. Dove has created the ultimate balance between color, picture and text to feed our persuasive minds. However effective these tools might be, the choice is still the consumers to buy. It is simply a matter of what the mind is allowed to be subjective to. In this case, one can’t assume that Dove’s art of rhetoric means trickery, neither can it assume that it is purely for women’s self-esteem increase. Whichever the choice, one must recognize the good that has come of the campaign and grant credit and gratitude. For if beauty has to start with anyone, it is those who use the word.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Way Towards Freedom

The Way towards Freedom



For a nation that is considered to be a dangerous threat to the world because of nuclear weapons democratic change is highly favored in the modern world and has no better time or place for political support. Democratic nations are seen as the leaders of humanitarian aid, capitalist economies, and natural rights advocates which gives them global influence and credibility. They are like the older brothers maintaining peace among the younger siblings. Why not try to follow in their footsteps? Fathi and Mackey address this in their September 2009 article entitled, “Students Protest at Tehran University” published by the New York Times. This article discusses the oppression of religious interpretation and censorship by the Iranian government upon their people, but more specifically towards: the study of humanities. Writing about this topic of student protests' in Tehran, are meant to show people globally that students in Iran want to bring forth political change to Iran, leaving behind a strong hold to religious context and moving towards a more free interpretation and democratic nation. Throughout the article, the authors do a very well task of informing the American audience of the injustices a world apart, through the use of diction, allusion and multimedia images. The effect that it has on the audience, is that they feel compassion for the students and see them as brave for standing up about it.

Images and Video

To make more appeal to the audience and for them to get a feel for what these protests are like, there is a video posted showing students walking around with green balloons and ribbons, holding up peace signs. The authors included this video to emphasis that it is an example of a democratic mannered protest. There are no weapons, fires, or fights with the armed forces in sight as is usually seen in most Middle Eastern images broadcasted through news networks. By adding this video, the authors make a greater connection to the audience. The audience realizes that this event is actually taking place and that there are real people involved, people like you and me. It is not a fictional novel. And a feeling of sympathy strikes the audience.



Because of the photographs shown throughout the article, the audience sees once again reinforcement of the fact that Iranians are only be ruled upon, and are being encouraged to abstain from anything that goes against the “framework of the beliefs and interests held by the rulers and the system.”These students are covered with green bandanas as if trying to cover their identity are used by the authors in creating what type of consequences can come as a result of these protests such as persecution. Students don’t want to be recognized by the authorities, but they still want to get their point across. If they do get identified, they are risking being punished for defiance. The impact that it has on the American public, is that they view the reality of Iranian government as a strict one and encourage these students to fight for what they believe in.

Diction

Throughout the article, words such as "cleanse," are used to create imagery in the text. Cleanse is typically seen as a word with positive meaning for example to make something appear fresh or new. However, in this context, it is used in connection with the Islamic government attempting to remove as a whole and discredit the field of study of humanities in universities. It is more connected with the wrong and how it only pollutes society and individuals. The authors continue with including excerpts from the rhetorical essay like “strays from the path” and “ begin the surveillance” in an attempt to make clear that the Iranian government makes it seem as if students are criminals which they have to tame early on before they go the wrong direction. By including this type of word choice in the article of different sources, Mackey and Fathi are making the audience lean to their own views and disagree with the concept that these students are the enemies in the story.


Instead of including different slogans used by protestors, the authors include “Death to dictator!” and “Shame! Shame! Representative who is against the people!” to set up contrast. They set the students and the Iranian government on opposites sides of the spectrum. The Iranian government is seen as evil; and in contrast, the students as defending their natural rights. A way that the authors do this is by incorporating an overstatement from the rhetorical essay, “teaching the theories of the humanities in Iran’s universities had been a factor leading to waste and destruction after the recent election.” In this sense, Saeed Hajjarian solemnly blames these protests on the study of humanities and no other factor. The authors do not directly state that either of them is right or wrong, but the fact that make seem through the use of diction and other sources to focus more on the students point of view. This contrast used by the authors, persuades the audience to pick up not only on the views towards the government, but more to rally in favor of the revolutionary students.

Allusion

Allusion is a tool used by the authors through the incorporation of a rhetorical essay by Abuzar, a student at Amir Kabir University in Tehran. The article is entitled "Why Is the Islamic Republic Afraid of the Humanities?" The message that the essay sends is that the government is in essence, wants students to “follow a single school of thought and a single belief.” This essay included in the article is the most credible and powerful tool that the authors included in the article. It is so because the authors aren’t just stating what they see, but it is a first had experience of someone that has lived through it. Therefore, it makes it more meaningful to the audience and strengthens the bond between audience to

Conclusion



Even though Fahiti and Mackey picked a relevant issue for our time, this article would have had a greater impact if the article would have been published internationally. Although this article was posted on the New York Times blog and Americans can read it, most people in other countries don’t have the type of easy access to computers as we do. In some countries, western internet websites are even blocked for the safety of their people. Therefore, it does have an influence of the American public, but lacks the impact in societies like Iran’s. Although, most Americans already agree with the points of views of the authors, the article does help inform Americans that even though, people may live in a country mainly dominated by religion, there are those citizens that want to bring forth change.

Typically, the main purpose of government body’s is to protect the people, and help their citizens prosper: to help them excel. With this article ironically enough, we notice that this is not the case of Iran. Instead of the government promoting more education and diversity, students are limited and denied in the choices that are available to them. The case of half of university students in Iran.

Dove's Campaign For Real Beauty

Real Beauty

Dove’s Campaign For Real Beauty is a campaign that helps raise money to help young girls to older women to build their self-esteem. The media presents beauty in general and has their description of what beauty is (usually extremely skinny, tall, “beautiful”) but not everyone fits that image, we all have flaws and imperfections. Dove’s Campaign lets us know that it is okay to love ourselves, and that we have true beauty. With the help of imagery and video they are able to capture how self-esteem issues are affecting girls, whether it is in a good way or bad; the purpose of the campaign is to show both sides of the affects and ways to make it better for girls all over the world.

Dove is raising this campaign for girls all over the world. As soon as you enter into their website you can choose your country and the language that is usually spoken there will be presented on the website. The other countries have different web pages once you enter onto their website. For instance in United States the first webpage has the Wall of Beauty, where you can post a picture and leave a comment of what you know beauty is and in Austria it has a video of “Evolution”, showing how we change beauty through Photoshop, and that our perception of beauty is distorted. Although Dove is advertising in different countries, they use different tactics of imagery and video to capture their audience in that area.


While the “Evolution” video is on the front page for Austria, it is also available on all the country’s web pages. This video shows what we don’t see. The actual model and what they transform her into. This video is a representative of Dove’s Campaign because it shows that even the models don’t look like what they perceive to be on a billboard, magazine, or Internet; Dove wants us to have real beauty not something that media created.



In the evolution video, you can see that the women who walked in the photo shoot is a normal lady, no make-up, and natural. As soon as the lights shine on her, you can see her blemishes and the make-up artist quickly covers it with foundation. Her hair is then curled to give it volume and more appeal. She looks great with the new make over. Her pictures are taken, and you would think that it would be enough with her picture, but it isn’t. They Photoshop her neck and make it longer, her eyes become wider, and her lips more plump. By the end the billboard ends up showing a different women, then the one who walked in for the photo shoot as their model. The video notes that our perception of beauty is distorted; we are given a false view of beauty. We are being lied to; beauty isn’t what it seems to be now. Beauty is whatever the editor wants it to be; it’s not original anymore.

The Campaign for Beauty is so essential here in the United States to little girls and adults because they go day to day, looking at what the media presents them such as magazines, billboards, and they have an 'image' of what beauty should be, and it makes girls feel pressured to look and be a certain way. According to Dove’s Beauty Campaign, 75% of teenage girls felt 'depressed, guilty and shameful' after spending just three minutes leafing through a fashion magazine (quoted in respectrx.com). This shows how imagery can affect a reader in a personal level; it makes at least ¾ of the teenage girls upset with themselves.

The ironic part to this campaign is that in many cases it shows the negative side of girl’s self-esteem. This picture shows a girl looking very upset, her eyes staring straight at you, and her lips pressed together; you can also see that in the background she has a very bright color, as if the girl who is upset usually is content. Stating how she wishes she were blonde, when she has brown hair. By the end of her experience she is able to accept her natural beauty, this picture originally comes from a video Dove made, and it shows that she is content with her natural hair color.

The campaign really appeals to Pathos (appealing to the readers emotions), it has many life changing experiences, and the give the girls chance to feel better about themselves. Girls have the opportunity to write about their feelings about what the think beauty is and what they think about themselves on Doves Real Beauty Wall. For example, Candace from New Jersey says, “ I know my smile is beautiful.” The ironic part about Candace’s smile is that she has braces, which is something people are usually uncomfortable with when they smile. With a high self-esteem, Candace is able to feel confident about her smile. Some girls even post short videos of them stating what beauty is. Angelica posted a video saying, “The way I view myself now, is as a beautiful person no matter what.” The campaign was able to help these girls, and build their self-esteem and they are able to post their newfound confidence. The Real Beauty Wall, is basically a blog for these young women, and helps them feel better by leaving a little testimony of themselves of real beauty; the wall usually has twelve spaces for twelve girls.

The campaign’s main target audience is mostly younger girls and women. The campaign really stresses how much of an affect of low self-esteem can affect a girls, it states in the website that, “75% of girls with low self-esteem reported engaging in negative activities such as disordered eating, cutting, bullying, smoking, or drinking when feeling badly about themselves.” Girls with low self-esteem usually tend to resort to bad habits and behavior, and Dove wants the audience to know this, so they can contribute to helping these young women, because “62% of all girls feel insecure or not sure of themselves.” These statistics can be found on the gallery section of Campaign for Real Beauty, under DOVE global studies, it’s called Real Girls, Real Pressure. They put the statistics up so you can get involved in a community near you.

Dove’s Campaign For Real Beauty helps in every little way that they can to help someone’s self-esteem rise and you can tell through the tone of their videos and messages. The campaign’s website has tips and helpful advice to help you out in your self-esteem issues. Including advice for mothers to give to their daughters. Workshops that help you improve your self-esteem, online activities, and ways to help a girl in need. Doves campaign really sets the caring tone through this way; Dove mostly focuses on helping the girls out, and promoting their products comes along with it, because the campaign is in the same website as their products. Dove does a good job of separating the two, but also keeps the products available for the viewer.

Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty is something that makes us remember that at one point in our lives we had a low self-esteem, and that we were insecure. I remember feeling the same way as these young women do in my adolescent years. It was an awkward phase for me, because I was entering into puberty. I started to have low self-esteem issues because I would always compare myself to other girls. Now, I’ve learned to accept myself for who I am, and this is why I like Dove’s Campaign, because it helps us accept ourselves for who we are.

This campaign is making a difference to young girl’s and women lives and perspective on beauty. It helps them realize what true beauty is and helps them accept their own. It helps them care less about the media and focus on what true beauty is and that is our own real beauty. This campaign will motivate you and help you feel better about yourself. The campaign is a very supporting campaign, and very positive. For us, women, we have issues with self-esteem, and Dove really encourages us to raise our self-esteem and others as well because it will make a difference in our lives.

Cake....To Eat or Not to Eat?


Cake, in its deliciously baked form, is a favorite dessert for millions around the world, so why wouldn’t it be a favorite in the digital form either? Author Jen of food blog “Cake Wrecks” has discovered this same love for cake in her blog about cakes gone badly. Just like after taking your first bite of cake it’s hard to make yourself stop, this blog has attracted much of its readers by letting them take a nibble, hooking them, and watching them come back for more! Jen has an uncanny skill for using casual language and rhetorical tools in such an easy manner that many of her readers do not realize the addiction that has formed for this physical and visual desire for cakes. With her style of writing, Jen has allowed this blog to become an activity that is enjoyable for people of all ages, shapes, sizes, and situations. In searching through her blog, it is easy to see that Jen’s diction, presentation, and ultimate love and passion for what she does has created a strong dialogue between herself and her readers that keeps people coming back for more.

Just like when you’re eating cake and you couldn’t imagine it getting better, but then you taste some of that sweet icing, Jen’s wit and commentary serve as the icing to her blog by making her photos and posts that much sweeter. It seems that when pictures and comments couldn’t get any more terrifying or any funny, the author finds a way to sneak attack and get the reading rolling on the floor with laughter.

As the reader continues it is not hard to feel Jen’s lighthearted tone and good humor is what helps to solidify her use of kairos. By being aware of her readers, Jen has focused on making her blog very modern. Using this blog as a casual form of journal, the readers are able to connect with the author on a more personal level, almost as a friend. Speaking bluntly, and showing no mercy to those wrecks presented on her blog, Jen has created a tone of humor that is carried throughout her blog by treating all of the people she critiques equally. With such strong appeal to humor, Jen’s writing has created an opportunity to have readers of all ages.

Much of the success of this blog has come directly from Jen’s use of diction and her ability to interact and build relationships with her readers through her various forms of humor. One of the most evident tools in her humor is the overstatement used in introducing the topics, witty titles, commenting on pictures, or even making fun of herself the sarcastic comments define her as an author. An example of this overstating is when Jen posted a bunch of pictures of cake wrecks that were supposed to represent Texas, hoping to tip the reader as where she was; however, It wasn’t until that final picture that we experience some of Jen’s overstatements:



“What, nothing? Tch. Look, I don't see how this jumbled mass of shotgun shells and strawberries could make it any clearer. [head tilt] Well, unless maybe you held them up to a mirror. Heh. Yeeeah.” This more subtle form of humor gives Jen even more interaction with the readers because it’s not enough that she is teasing the actual person who wrecked the cake, but she goes on to make fun of the reader. The best part about it is that she has made it so that the interpreted humor isn’t offensive, it actually just makes the readers laugh harder.

Although Jen has a great knack for rhetorical tools, she also relies greatly on the visual appeal of her blog in order to intrigue the readers quickly. Having dark backgrounds with bright writing and big titles help to bring the focus of the readers to the writing and pictures, proving that fonts and images are the key elements of her blog. With easy to read fonts, tabs, organized categories, and just overall fun aspects of the site the reader is given the freedom to do whatever they want to do! Readers can find humorous cakes in almost every topic, each of them having their own witty title and pulling the reader from one section of the blog to the other. It’s amazing to see how quickly anyone could really get caught up in this blog because of all of the various things that the authors have been able to discover. It's almost like discovering there are more flavors than just plain vanilla, and you want to try them all.

Just like people want to move away from "vanilla" and into other flavors, Jen gives her audience the option to divert away from the main page and maneuver through separate sections or categories called “fan faves” and “the classics.” Jen even finds ways to interact with her readers simply through entertaining titles, for example: The Oh-So-Gross Foot Cakes, When Gangsters Go “PC,” Naked Mohawk-Baby Carrot Jockeys, and When Brides Have No Budget (or taste) to just name a few. How could anyone fight their temptation to taste this well used skill of connotation?

One of my favorite visual elements of this blog is the contrast of pictures. In our minds we have an image of how things should look when certain words are being said; however, through the skills of many talented "wreckers" some of these words bring in completely new meanings. In the sections about bridal cakes, Jen shows the readers how the interpretation and connotation behind words is important by showing the contrasting visuals of what brides had originally asked for, but were unfortunate enough to receive.

Once more, I don't know where this woman was able to find these unfortunate excuses for cakes, but without a doubt they are the best at contrasting what should be a good cake and what constitutes a complete "cake wreck."

Another one of those categories that may have caught the readers attention is titled “oh poop,” where the use of imagery is quite vivid. When describing what was supposed to be hamburgers cooking on a grill, but were unfortunately not so realistic in their design, Jen was quick on her feet when saying, “Let's kick things off with a zesty selection of grilling poo, shall we?” Now if that doesn’t create a mental image, or stand as a rhetorical question, I don’t know what will!

Similarly, Jen goes on to make some grammatical corrections from other bakeries that include notes on orders that weren’t supposed to be there or don’t have punctuation in proper places to give it proper emphasis(a lot like the one at the top of the page.) One of those cakes presented on this site is written “glad your ‘here’” all in sloppy cursive, and not only was the word “your” misspelled, the quotations completely changed the meaning behind the cake. Jen commented by saying, “Is this person really glad you're "here"? No, of course not. Just look at the signs!” What a nice cross between her overstatements and rhetorical questions to add to the already bad display of cake décor.

Ultimately, without Jen’s sensitivity for quality humor and keen eye for “cake wrecks” we would all be wandering around wondering why anyone could make those simple mistakes or hideous decisions when creating things that are supposed to be both physically and visually appealing. Jen has been able to use all sorts of imagery on her blog both in creative designs, but mostly in her great commentary that brings a fun and light-hearted tone for the readers to enjoy. By applying all sorts of rhetorical tools, Jen has been able to attract readers of all sorts without having to force her blog onto others. Recognized for her great skills we also see that she has received awards for the funniest blog, as well as the best food blog! Obviously this girl knows what she is doing, and what the audience wants or she wouldn’t be as successful as she is and we wouldn’t love it as much as we do. I can only look forward to future postings of “cake wrecks,” and learn those things I need to do to avoid any unfortunate “cake wrecks” of my own.