I commented on Glynnis' blog:

I also really enjoyed the first paper, and agree that it was fun and different. Unfortunately I didn't have the same experience with my research paper. Although I learned a lot from writing it, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I would have hoped, but I'm glad you enjoyed yours.

What I've Learned

Throughout the course of this class, I’ve learned a couple things that I could apply to my life, my career goals, and my future. Being a music performance major, concentration and motivation are two key things that determine success or failure. This semester I struggled a lot with my attendance in English, and that made me realize that I needed to be more focused and motivated. Even though my absences weren’t backed by lazy intentions and were actually instances of sickness, I realized that there’s a lot I can do to prevent myself from getting sick so that I can attend class. Also, procrastination has been a deadly shadow that has followed me since high school. Having a blog post due every Sunday at noon, having almost weekly drafts of papers and frequent reading quizzes practically cut that habit of waiting until the last minute to get things done. I’ve also learned that I’m not very fond of research papers. I was able to learn how to research more efficiently, how to cite sources, how to paraphrase and summarize so that I’m including my own opinions as well as those I found. But even after learning all these research-paper-writing techniques, I have decided that they are not my favorite. I would much rather write a free creative piece, or an analytical essay. I struggled with my research paper, but I am proud of myself for making it through and still managing to get a B. I am glad I had the opportunity to take this class, and I’ve learned a lot that I will carry with me.

I commented on Donovan and Linden's posts

Rhetorical Techniques

The cultural artifact I’ve chosen to analyze is an advertisement by the M&M Company. The image appears in a magazine as a blank white sheet with a collection of M&M’s that form a large computer keyboard. Instead of the iconic “M” on each candy piece, they have their corresponding QWERTY keyboard letter on them. Upon analyzing this advertisement, I chose to look at it from many different sides. Two of the strongest rhetorical techniques I have found are the size and placement of the image as well as the image itself. The keyboard is placed in the center of the page since that is where the eyes automatically look, and the image is large enough to cover most of the page. The background is plain white while the M&M candy pieces are brightly colored, drawing all of the attention to the candies themselves. The M&M logo appears very small all the way at the bottom of the page. I believe this is because M&M’s are so popular that they are widely recognizable and people don’t need to see the actual logo to know that they are M&M’s. Aside from the placement of the image, the fact that the M&M’s form a computer keyboard is a genius approach to gaining the attention of teenagers and adults who use computers. Anyone could recognize a keyboard, and can relate to this ad because nowadays we all use computers. I think a combination of these two rhetorical techniques plus everything else that is done in this advertisement help make it really successful.  

I commented on Bryan's and Linden's posts

Coca-Cola commercial

I chose to analyze a commercial advertising Coca-Cola. This commercial starts off by showing an average guy who is sleeping at night. He rolls out of bed and kind of rubs his eyes, still asleep. This automatically catches the attention of the people watching because we’ve all experienced this. As an audience, we can guess that he is getting up either to use the bathroom, or to grab a mid night snack. Once he starts walking, we see that he is in a tent, and is camping. People who have gone camping can further more relate to this situation. The man starts walking, still asleep, and this is where it starts to get a little ridiculous. The makers of this commercial use humor in a series of impossible events to draw attention to the commercial. The man who is walking through the safari in his sleep waves at a jaguar, walks right through a herd of running elephants, walks on the edge of a cliff straight onto a boat in the lake which gets bitten in half by a hippo, and into a shack where there is a fridge with live snakes on it. He smiles, reaches into the fridge and grabs a glass-bottled Coke. This is the first moment where the audience actually knows what the commercial is for. Before this moment, they are merely watching it because they’re interested in what this man will face next. Once he has the Coke, he walks back and ends up in a chair where he drinks the Coke and is petting a hyena. This whole commercial tells us a few things about this drink. One, it apparently makes you brave and able to withstand any force, even in your sleep. And two, it is so irresistibly delicious that it makes you want to wake up in the middle of the night and cross the entire African safari just to have a glass. Anyone who has ever had Coke might agree with that, and therefore I believe this is a great commercial. It is humorous, adventurous, and satisfying all at the same time. There’s something about Coca-Cola commercials that makes you want to go buy a bottle right away. Probably the fact that they are not boring and factual like many others. Plus, the song playing in the background of this ad is a very popular classical song called “Bolero” which would call out to all the musicians (including myself). 

Coca-Cola Commercial

Flyer

My research paper

My research paper is on the effects of Disney movies on society. I believe they have a positive effect on people, and I refuted the claims of people who don't. First I took a look at an article written by a woman named Kira. In her article she examines the top ten frugal lessons learned in Disney movies. She discusses important lessons such as: take responsibility for your actions, and don't be afraid of a challenge. I took her information and connected it with the movies they are portrayed in. I also used an interview with Anika Noni Rose who is the voice of Tiana in the movie The Princess and the Frog. She says that people nagged and complained that there was no African American princess in any movies. So, Disney created The Princess and the Frog where Tiana is a black girl living in New Orleans and she falls in love with Prince Naveen of Maldonia. Even after this movie was made, people still had something to complain about: Prince Naveen is voiced by a Brazilian actor, not a black one. Rose says that people are never satisfied, and instead of complaining about that, they should realize that Princess Tiana is the first American princess, and what honor that brings. I refuted claims of people who believe that there are traces of violence, racism, and sexual innuendos in Disney movies, and that they have a negative impact on society, especially on children. I took each one of those topics and used evidence and support to prove why they are incorrect. 

Comments blog #6

By the way, I commented on Ingrid's and Jonathan's blogs.

Once Upon A Mattress

What do you get when you mix the classic story of The Princess and the Pea with the flashy exaggerated showiness that is Broadway? Well, you get the hit musical Once Upon A Mattress. This story narrows in on Winnifred the Woebegone, “Princess of Icolmkill, Guardian of the Midgard Serpent and Warden of the Ragnorok Marsh Lily.” As you can tell by her name, she’s a very interesting princess, straight from the swamp. Winnifred, nicknamed “Fred” has been fetched by Sir Harry of the castle to become the bride of the kingdom mama’s boy Prince Dauntless the Drab. The kingdom has a Marriage Law that states: “Throughout the land no one may wed ‘til Dauntless to the altar’s led.” When Fred arrives at the castle, the temperamental Queen Aggravain refuses to accept her as a “genuine bonafide princess” and decides she must devise a plan to get rid of her. She and the wizard test her for sensitivity. Dauntless’s father, the king, literally has no say in this, since he is under a curse cast long ago that reads: “King Sextimus will never talk until the mouse devours the hawk.” Queen Aggravain places a pea under 20 soft downy mattresses, and tells the wizard that any true princess would feel it and be too uncomfortable to sleep. To ensure that Princess Winnifred fails the test, the Queen calls for a ball where everyone will dance the extremely tiring “Spanish Panic,” she summons a hypnotic mirror, a nightingale to sing a lullaby, and fixes her a warm glass of special milk. Will Fred pass the test? Will she be able to marry Prince Dauntless and lift the Marriage Law for the rest of the kingdom? Or will she fail like all the others and leave everyone in the kingdom sad with lost hope? 

Comments

I commented on Linden and Victor's blogs.

Research

I absolutely disagree with the statement: You can’t use the pronoun I.

If you are writing a research paper, using your opinions and crediting yourself for them is important, as long as you have factual support. I think kids are just taught not to use the pronoun “I” so that every sentence isn’t an opinion. I was always scared to use it because I was taught that it wasn’t allowed. But I think it’s mainly because my teachers were trying to get me to see the difference between research papers and argumentative papers.

I agree with the statement: You can use your own writing voice.

Even though a research paper is supposed to be more formal, the use of a person’s voice will keep it from making others fall asleep. When someone writes in their voice, you get a feel of who they are, and it makes the paper more interesting to read. I think that people should always write in their voice, unless of course they are writing a strictly factual scientific journal or something like that. But an article in the newspaper or in a magazine is meant for entertainment, and should be written so. I know I don’t read magazines to make myself get bored and fall asleep. That defeats the purpose. Using your voice in a paper also makes it unique to you. Ten people could write a paper on the same prompt with the exact same information, and all ten papers would be completely different because everyone’s voice is different.