"The Last Text" Summary and Analysis

This video contains three stories of three young people who were driving and texting and were in an accident because of it. The first story was told by a sister of the victim. She sent one word and her sister died in an accident. The next was a boy who was in the passenger seat of the car when it hit a tree. He had brain damage and now cannot do what he referred to as "normal things". The last was about a teenage girl who was on the way to watch a baseball game. One of her friends was giving her directions and she looked away too long and crashed. These stories were all used to tell people the hazard of texting and driving. At the end of the video AT&T states "Texting and Driving...It can wait".
 This video works to make people stop texting and driving because it appeals to the emotions. The people who spoke were the family of people who passed, and one survivor. The families were hurt tremendously in the accidents because these good people died and were wounded. This appeals to our hearts because no one thinks that a text message is worth a life. It also appeals to our logic because we know we should not text and drive, but tend to do it anyways. This video shows you the reason why you should not text and what the consequences of that is.

Position Paper in Class Lab: How things mean

Album Covers:
They suggests that your face sells a product a certain way. The softer sexier feel of the woman suggests that her music is for other women who enjoy soft maybe even pop music. The men have strong and serious poses. This suggests their music shouldn't be taken lightly and that they are serious artists. The eyes work on the viewer to tell them what the music is about. The woman has a certain soft feel behind her eyes that the men don't have.

Peace sign buttons:
These buttons suggest world peace is more important than wars. They do this by saying "peace" and "make love not war". The elements that work are the peace sign because a lot of people are familiar with them and worlds like love and war because a lot of controversy surrounds them.

Different types of symbols and images in the media can suggest what the topic of the item or selling point is. The first way you can see this is on album covers. Images of people on the cover can change the whole selling point of the music. A picture of a woman, the singer, having soft eyes and a sexy feel can sell to both women and men. Women are attracted to the album because the feel of the music is softer and could contain pop undertones. Men on their albums tend to be seen as  strong and almost cold on the cover. The music in those albums are seen as serious and important where as on the woman's album it is light hearted and sexy. Another way to see different images and symbols suggesting the topic is on buttons. On two different buttons they suggest that peace is important in life. On the first button it is easy to understand because of the common peace sign and the word peace. The words flow on the button and help to suggest a calming feel to it. The second button suggests that love is more important than war. It uses the peace sign again to suggest peace is more important than war. These symbols work because the faces have a certain tone and the symbols are common and recognizable to the public.

Page 269-284 Summary

An argument is a way to express yourself. You argue for or against something all the time without realizing it. It is important to understand how arguments work to make sure you can write the best argument you can. Arguments can be found everywhere in the media, and can sometimes be seen as manipulative. The purpose of an argument can be many things from trying to make someone understand a certain point of view or to more a decision on something as simple as where to eat. Religion, facts, statistics and personal testimony are all things you can use as evidence for an argument. It is important to keep in mind your intended arguments even though it can be perceived in many ways. What you wear and what you use to represent yourself give off a certain impression on who you are. You should make sure to think carefully about your argument and what you are trying to say. Make sure the source is a reliable one when looking at arguments of others. You should dig deep to find where it came from and if it is important to your argument as well. Make sure your stance comes across clearly and that it is reasonable and knowledgeable. If your argument matters to you, you should make sure it matters to others as well. Your claim should be strong and clear. A thesis can help support your claim. And make sure to appeal to all audiences.

Taking Stock: 2nd Paper

1.        How did you go about analyzing the text? What methods did you use—and which ones were most helpful?

I used the questions at the bottom of the page of the 2nd paper work sheet and questions from the book to help me analyze the text. I found that questions about what the focus of the article really helped break down what I wanted to write about. 

2.       How did you go about drafting your essay?

I started out by writing a thesis and beginning paragraph. then I analyzed the articles from oldest to most recent and broke them down together for my conclusion.

3.       How well did you organize your written analysis? What, if anything, could you do to make it easier to read?

I organized it by date, and my classmates said it was well organized and put together. I am not sure what I would change to make it easier to read. 

4.       Did you provide sufficient evidence to support your analysis?

I quoted phrases from the ads to support my analysis and explained why it supported my reasoning.

5.       What did you do especially well?

 I think I analyzed the articles really well while they were separated. 

6.       What could still be improved?

I think my thesis and concluding paragraph could be better and use more detail.

7.       Did you use any visuals, and if so, what did they add? Could you have shown the same thing with words?

I put all three of the articles at the end of my paper. I think that they couldn't have been put into words because the advertisement it meant to be seen.

8.       How did other readers' responses influence your writing?

My classmates responses helped me write more in depth about certain advertisements  and  made sure to add a citations page.

9.       What would you do differently next time?

I would definitely use either a different thesis or make sure I can really explain in more depth how these related to my thesis.

10.   Are you pleased with your analysis? What did it teach you about the text you analyzed? Did it make you want to study more works by the same writer or artist?

I am pleased with my analysis. I think I did a very good job breaking down each ad and explaining why they worked in the world. The ads taught me that hidden messages are used more than I thought. When I look at an ad I usually don't even realize what it makes me think but know I understand better how to break down what they are trying to get me to do. 

11.   What are the transferrable  skills you can take from this into other writing situations?

I can take citations and quotations away from this and put them in other research papers. I think that learning the proper ways to do those will benefit me further down my writing career and make it easier to teach others how to do those things.

Page 62: Think About the Genre/ Page 66 in class lab

Things I've taken positions on over the week:
1. What car to drive to school
2. What type of food to eat.
3. What time to leave for work.
4. What to write about for class.
5. What advertisements were most powerful for my essay
6. What tooth paste is best to use.
7. Where to eat for lunch with friends
8. Responding to classmates papers and their position.
9. Debate position: Pro vs. Con
Other peoples:
1. Outfit choices
2. When to eat
3. If it is okay to hit people

Page 66 in class lab:

Gun control memes:

https://llwproductions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/meme-deer-shooting-back.jpg
This appeals to us because it is a funny way to say someones position. They used a joke, and a picture of a man everyone knows to make a meme about gun control. To support its position it asks a question, and then answers it with a punch line that delivers their stance. For a serious audience we would change it to saying "No one needs 30 rounds in their gun, because deer can not shoot back.". To change its medium we would switch the position and explain why so many rounds are needed.

https://stophittingyourbrother.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/gun-control-memes.jpg
On this website there are two different memes that have two different positions. The fist one has a quote from Ronald Reagan saying how he feels about guns. He said that it was okay to have guns for self defense but a machine gun is too much and no one really needs one in their home. The second meme has the word guns repeated several times next to phases that represent what we use to defend things like our homes and president. At the bottom it reads "We defend our children with a sign that reads 'this is a GUN FREE ZONE'". The quote from a historic person works because people trust his opinion and they logically can follow what he says. The second meme speaks to peoples emotions because their children or niece is not being protected while at school or in certain environments. To change them we would make them either appeal to someones comedic genre or have them be more serious depending on the audience.

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/5d/5d3a151b7d0d3b9e0bf5fd0f87d5023c63d74801655090fcf02f5579247c51f1.jpg
This memes is a picture of a man trying not to laugh while pretending to think. Around him it says "That Facebook post really make me think about my stance on gun control, said no one ever".  This appeals to us because it is funny and relatable. Really it means that it is hard to sway peoples opinions, but when you're on Facebook and something about gun control comes up you kind of laugh and scroll past. The thing we would change is maybe using a picture of someone we know. We would change the content to change the medium. We would make the meme have a position on gun control itself.

Bibliography:
Michelle. Cartoon. Motley News, 6 April. 2013.
Sallah. Cartoon. Stop Hitting Your Brother. 31 January. 2013
Quick Memes. Cartoon. Quick meme.com.

Page 167-168

Thesis: Society has always told women what they need to look like in order to be happy and healthy.Evidence: Quotes and picture analyzations from three advertisements. Opening: Interviews, magazines, and television shows all tell us at one point or another what women need to have a perfect body. Young girls scrolling through Instagram see a social media model and hope to be her one day. What does this say about our world? Why do pictures of slim, fit women work to make people want to change their bodies? In our society, the “ideal” body type is a slim woman, with large assets. The media industry did not always hold standards like this.  In the past it was a thicker, curvier woman.Conclusion: In conclusion, no matter what time period we are in we still see that society wants to control what women do and how they look. These ads all together show the world that women need to be a certain way to be happy and accepted. The publishers of all these ads want to change women’s appearance by using her weight as an issue. They all target younger women, by using images of women who are flawless and young looking. The purpose of all of these ads is to chow women there is a way to change your body to be happy and get more people to like you. They want to change the way they look, so others will change the way they see them because according to these ads women cannot be happy until they are accepted by everyone. They work because they all target a certain group of people by putting them down, and then showing them what they can do to be better. They all value the shape of women’s bodies and how women look. We can tell that is what the ads target because they use words like “pretty” (Seventeen Magazine) or “rundown” (How do you look in your bathing suit). The key phases they use are “women naturally alluring curves and new popularity” (How do you look in your bathing suit ad), “The new, easy way I have all the dates I want” (Men wouldn’t look at me when I was skinny) and “Look pretty for spring!” (Seventeen Magazine). Together these ads promote body shaming to adjust the way a woman looks and feels about herself and change the way women see themselves so that their products will sell better in day to day life.

First Draft Textual Analysis Paper

The Weight in the World

                Interviews, magazines, and television shows all tell us at one point or another what women need to have a perfect body. Young girls scrolling through Instagram see a social media model and hope to be her one day. What does this say about our world? Why do pictures of slim, fit women work to make people want to change their bodies? In our society, the “ideal” body type is a slim woman, with large assets. The media industry did not always hold standards like this.

The next ad starts out by saying “Men wouldn’t look at me when I was skinny…” and has a woman in a swim suit saying this. This ad is promoting weight gain, which means women can be too skinny. This ad is from somewhere between 1930s to the 1960s. The text tells women that they need to gain weight because if you are too skinny you become sad and alone. The ad does this by saying in the first sentence “Now there’s no need to be skinny and friendless…” they go on to mention being skinny can make you “weak” and your “flat chest will develop”. These ads were put out by an ironized yeast production company. They were intended for women seeking men, or feeling disappointed in their weight. This is shown by the woman, who looks around her early twenties representing the ad. What she is saying, “Men wouldn’t look at me when I was skinny...”, is also an indication that it is pointed towards single females. The purpose of this ad was to put women who are “too” skinny in a shamed place so they will buy a product to six their insecurities. The creator wants to change what women look like and how they feel about their body. They want these women to buy their product, so they targeted a certain group who they think will benefit from it. They work towards this by making the thought of being skinny repulsive and less great than being a thicker body type. They support women changing their ways to please a man. As a whole, this advertisement wants to change women. It is giving power to a certain body type and trying to force women to conform their bodies.

The next ad has a headline of “How do you look in your bathing suit?” another ad from the 1960s, and it promotes gaining weight. It shows an image of two women, one with brown hair, a frown, and a slim body. The other woman hair light blonde hair, a bright smile and a curvier body. She looks happy and excited whereas the other woman looks dull and sad. It is telling women to be happy they need to gain weight. The publisher of this ad was another ironized yeast tablet maker. Theses texts are mainly pointed towards women, but at the very bottom there is a quote from a man who “gained 14 pounds in five weeks”. We know these texts are pointed towards men and women because they used a woman in their photograph, and in the smaller text they wrote “Thousands of skinny, rundown men and women…”. The purpose of these texts is to get skinny people to buy their product. They want men and women to feel bad about being skinny so their product will sell better. They want to change society from being skinny to becoming more thick and curvy. These ads work because they tear down one type of person and promote a different kind. They use society views to sell their product. They wrote “Read how thin, tired-out, nervous, rundown people have gained health and strength-quick!” this promotes becoming thicker by saying when you gain weight you gain positive qualities like strength. It tears down thin people by describing how bad being skinny can be to your body. This ad helps to control women and even men who have a body type society does not see as beautiful or perfect.

The cover of Seventeen Magazine from March 2009 promotes “Flat abs and a great butt” and you can get all of that by spring break according to them. This ad is telling young girls what they need to have for men to be interested in them. Not only are they targeting their bodies, but mentality by telling them it is what they need. This ad works because society has already put pressure on teens to look a certain way, that putting “FLAT ABS” in all capitals on the front cover makes the subject want to buy it. We know this ad targets younger girls because they include words and phrases like “Free lip gloss!” and “The best guy advice EVER”. The magazine itself is called “Seventeen” and has a star from a popular young adult show on the cover with flawless skin and hair. The purpose of this ad is to get young girls to buy the magazine so they can have a particular body type. In large bolded font the cover reads “672 WAYS TO LOOK PRETTY FOR SPRING” because of this the magazine is cleverly telling the reader “You aren’t pretty now, but with our help you could be!”. Not only does this give society the power to tell young girls what they should look like, it tell them how they should act and what they need to get a man.

In conclusion, no matter what time period we are in we still see that society wants to control what women do and how they look. These ads all together show the world that women need to be a certain way to be happy and accepted. The publishers of all these ads want to change women’s appearance by using her weight as an issue. They all target younger women, by using images of women who are flawless and young looking. The purpose of all of these ads is to chow women there is a way to change your body to be happy and get more people to like you. They want to change the way they look, so others will change the way they see them because according to these ads women cannot be happy until they are accepted by everyone. They work because they all target a certain group of people by putting them down, and then showing them what they can do to be better. They all value the shape of women’s bodies and how women look. We can tell that is what the ads target because they use words like “pretty” (Seventeen Magazine) or “rundown” (How do you look in your bathing suit). The key phases they use are “women naturally alluring curves and new popularity” (How do you look in your bathing suit ad), “The new, easy way I have all the dates I want” (Men wouldn’t look at me when I was skinny) and “Look pretty for spring!” (Seventeen Magazine). Together these ads promote body shaming to adjust the way a woman looks and feels about herself and change the way women see themselves so that their products will sell better in day to day life.