Self Reflective- Developed Significantly as a Writer

English 1020 is the first English course that I’ve taken in my first semester of college. Through this course I’ve been taught how to create a blog and post my writings. I’ve always thought of English to be writing papers and turning it into the actual hands of my teacher, but in this course I was taught to use online methods to create a writing and turn it in via internet, something that I am not use to. I feel that doing writing and reading through the Internet can make your work stronger. Through this English course I have developed strongly as a writer.
In other English classes that I have taken I was always use to getting a topic and writing about it, whereas this class gave you a subject that’s broad and gives you the chance to reflect your own into it. The three main papers that were assigned to the class was Observational, Reflective and Rhetoric essay. Our weekly assignments also included topics that the teacher chose and free writes. In the observational essay I got to choose what I wanted to observe and write about. I also got to reflect on things I wanted to reflect on with the reflective essay, and I got to choose a piece of rhetoric that I wanted to analyze.
During this period, the free writes gave me a lot of time to open up to many new ideas and fun and exciting things to write about. I never usually write on what’s going on in the world, and I finally did. On one of my free writes I wrote about the weather. I wrote, “I ran into plenty of pot holes and had to be washed many of times to clean off all the chemicals CDOT pours down on the roads to melt the ice”. In this class I learned to incorporate hyperlinks into my text so the reader can have a deeper understanding about what it is that I am talking about. In another piece of writing I wrote I used a hyperlink that backed up statistics that I incorporated in my writing, “The Statistics on Drinking and Driving among Teens says that eight teens die a day due to drunk driving.” I’ve learned that using facts and statistics can make your piece of writing stronger.
Using hyperlinks and statistics were a main part of my posts, but I’ve also learned to summarize and give background information on the subject I’m writing about. In one of my last post, the rhetoric essay I summarized a Bud Weiser commercial clip to give the reader an understanding of the You Tube clip I posted. I wrote, “The instructor tries to get one of the divers to gather enough courage to jump out of the plane, but when that doesn’t work, he tries to entice him by throwing a six-pack of Bud light out the door saying, "Not even for some Bud Light?". Instead of going for the bait the diver sits back and watches the pilot, who doesn’t have a parachute or anything to help him reach the ground safely, instinctively fly out of the plane after the cool and refreshing beverage.” In this summary I used actual dialogue to explain what was going on. I even boosted up my word choice by using “cool and refreshing beverage”.
Using clips and pictures in my writing was a big advantage of writing things online. I think that it gives the reader a clue about that you’re talking about and it’s a lot more interesting. All, if not most of my post have an image or clip incorporated in it. These images also give the audience an idea about the titles that the post were given. I’ve never had to write so many titles in an English class and this class has developed my ability to write interesting titles. Some of these titles include: Half Undressed, Dinner and a Hitch Hiker, What if that Stranger Hit and Killed Me, Turning Into an Obsession, etc.
These weekly assignments and papers that I was given to write has developed me as a writer in many ways. I learned how to be more computer friendly, using the internet to incorporate hyperlinks, clips, and images. Using statistics in my paper made my writing stronger and the titles that I thought of gave the audience and interest to read my posts. To make the audience not bored of what I wrote, I developed further skills of using new ideas and improving my word choice. This English class has shown me that English is not all about writing about specific topics that are given to you, but you can write about many different things and incorporate numerous effects to make your piece of writing more powerful. Through all that I learned in English 1020, I have developed significantly as a writer.

Rhetorical Analysis - Bud Light's Comedic Commercial

It’s amazing what people will do for something they love. There is so much dedication and loyalty that are shown for that person, place, or thing. In this case, I found a hilarious commercial that illustrates how far someone would go for something that is so prized and special. The commercial is a Budweiser commercial. Although there are many Budweiser commercials, this one stood out the most and caught my attention. The way it incorporates rhetoric is quite interesting. This Bud Light commercial shows the argument of the risks of drinking Bud Light.

For years Bud Light is well known through out America. Bud Light is a type of beer derived from Budweiser. “Budweiser, sometimes referred to as Bud, is a global pale lager brand owned by the U.S. based Anheuser-Busch company.The type of Budwieser, Bud light was “introduced nationally in 1982”( Wikipedia. 3 May 2007. 3 May 2007 ).Since then Budweiser has grown into one of the hugest beer names in our country and Budweiser commercials is what made it into what it is today.

This commercial uses many strategies to present their argumentation. Although there is no direct narration in the commercial, there’s a story that is told. There’s dialogue between the sky diving instructor and the guy learning to sky dive. Comparison and contrast were used to compare how scared the guy learning to sky dive was opposed to the other guys on the plane such as the instructor, pilot, and the guy that had jumped off the plane first. The pack of beer that was thrown out of the plane illustrated how someone would risk his or her life for it. That shows how this beer would affect someone’s life if they were willing to risk their life for it, like the pilot did. The product was used as an incentive for the guy jump to off the plane. All these strategies put together present the actual argument of this commercial.

That argument is the risk of drinking Bud Light. They are saying that Bud light is so great that anyone would risk anything even their own lives to have one. The taste of Bud light would have anyone who tried it craving for it. The instructor tries to get one of the divers to gather enough courage to jump out of the plane, but when that doesn’t work, he tries to entice him by throwing a six-pack of Bud light out the door saying, "Not even for some Bud Light?". Instead of going for the bait the diver sits back and watches the pilot, who doesn’t have a parachute or anything to help him reach the ground safely, instinctively fly out of the plane after the cool and refreshing beverage. With no one navigating the plane the instructor follow right behind the pilot leaving the lone diver to decide it he is willing to take his chances jumping over board or stay on board and parish with the plane.

“Budweiser is one of the major breweries that emphasizes humorous advertising campaigns. Some Bud advertising campaigns have entered the popular culture in the United States”( Wikipedia. 3 May 2007. 3 May 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budweiser_%28Anheuser-Busch%29). The commercial relies most on the visual effects. They use the commercial to illustrate the dominance that Bud Light has over any other beer, and why beer enthusiast should try their products. The commercial itself shows that once a consumer tries the product they would be hooked. The beer would have a hold over the consumer as if they were addicted to the refreshing taste. What appeals the viewer about this commercial is the pathetic yet brilliant comedy showing pathos. The comedic part of the commercial puts the viewers into a joyful mood. Which loosens up the viewer and judgment towards the actual refreshment of the product is over looked.

It’s amazing how advertisement can entice viewers to try out their products. A commercial can seem simple and comedic, but at the same time it’s those commercials that the viewers remember. When they think back to beer commercials, a lot of viewers remember the commercial that made them laugh and might even have them go out and buy themselves some of the beer that made the pilot go flying across their television screen and out the airplane door after it. All of the other aspects of the commercial sneak up on the viewer. At first they only think of it as a commercial that made them laugh and don’t realize that it could have affected the way their minds think. They might want to go out and give the beer that the pilot in the commercial would risk his life to have. The comedic aspect of this commercial is what catches the viewers attention, it has them talking about it to their coworkers or friends, and the advertisement extends farther than just the commercial alone. This is what the advertisement company wants. They succeeded in getting their point across to their viewers because now the person who hasn’t seen the commercial would want to view it for their own entertainment.

Use Protection- Freewrite

So many young teenagers are dating in our society today. I remember when I was in elementary school, kids were getting together and dumping each other like it was nothing. The drama in elementary school carried on to middle school. Then stronger feelings were developed in high school. These feelings could have been known as love or even lust.
An influence that the media has had on teenagers today is sex. Sex is everywhere and things related to it, are exposed in so many ways. There are inside jokes in cartoons that children might not have any clue about; it’s hidden. Advertisement seen on television always uses sex to sell their product. I see a lot of stuff shown on the media that have girls and guys getting pretty close or they are wearing all these provocative clothing. In result, it makes young teens want to imitate what they see because they think that’s what the cool thing to do is.
Lately I see and hear about so many girls getting pregnant. The last thing that I want to do is get pregnant. I don’t even have enough money to support myself. Sometimes I hear young mothers wonder about what their life would be like if they didn’t have a child, but they don’t regret it.
I think about all these things when I see young pregnant girls. I think about what would become of them. I wonder how they are going to be able to support the lives that they are about of bring into the world. I guess its their problem, not mine. So my lessons learned, use protection.

Dinner and a Hitchiker- Freewrite

My friend had gone to Detroit earlier in the week and finally he was back. I had arranged over the phone that a friend and I would pick him up from the airport. It was about nine p.m. when we picked him up from passenger-pick up and we were all hungry. Denny’s was the pick of the night. As we walked in through the entrance door we passed a man smoking. We exchanged sincere smiles to be nice. The hostess in front greeted and seated us near the bar. We ordered our food after a long time of contemplating over the menu. While we were talking and waiting for our food, the man we saw on our way in came back in and sat by the bar. Our food took a while because we ordered a lot and it took us a while to eat. It seemed like hours, but it wasn’t that long because we were done around eleven. The man was still there. We paid our tab and my friends and I got up to leave. As we walked out the man stopped us and asked if were heading toward Evergreen and he said he would pay us ten bucks if we could give him a ride. I never have the heart to say no, so I thought for a couple minutes and said okay. After all, if anything happened my friends could restrain him long enough so I could call the cops. The ride took us a long half an hour. The friend that came back from Detroit drove while my other friend sat in back with the Hitchhiker. I got to sit shotgun. The whole ride there I kept on asking him a million questions to make sure he wasn’t some psycho serial killer. It looked like he was taking us somewhere deserted. I never knew Evergreen was so far. I think the man knew I was testing him so he kept on telling us the speed limit ahead and the stores that were around. We realized what he said was true because everything was right. When we dropped him off we saw that he lived in a huge house. I guess it was coincidence that all the household cars broke down at the same time. My friend that had to sit in back with the Hitchhiker said I was messed up for making him sit in back with him. I responded by saying he was the biggest. He said that I would let him die first. It was a funny, nerve wrecking and interesting night. We made a joke out of it after we all knew we were safe. Now we look back and say we probably shouldn’t pick up a hitchhiker again. We were lucky.

Free Write- Shiny Object

George walked along the street one day, there he noticed out of the left corner of his eye a twinkling, shining object. Irresistible, George stopped. He looked to his right cautiously to see if anyone had noticed him. There sat a young lady near the escalator, she must have be waiting for the next train. Nervously stumbling to his left, George took a step closer. Thoughts and consequences streaked through his head, “What if someone sees? Do I look suspicious? How should I distract these wandering eyes?”

George took another step closer, this time stepping on his own foot. “What a klutz” he thought. But in this moment of near shame came forward great reward. For when he stumbled upon himself his right shoelace got untied. George was nearly overwhelmed with excitement at his sheer luck. “I will just slowly walk to the shinnying object and pretend to notice that my laces are untied and reach down and tie them back up”. His plan was set, now he need to act.

It was decided; George lifted his head, doing a steady and precise walk towards the object. He was there, the light at his very foot. Apprehensive, yet there was no turning back now. He reached down slyly and smoothly. He slowly tied his shoes, calculating each twisting and turning of the laces for the precise moment when to grab it. It was done the circular fragment was his. With a grin, George stood back up, looking back and forth, not a soul had noticed.

Something had changed in him that moment; something that gave him strength that he hadn’t had since childhood. He was determined; he looked back to his right the young lady waiting for train was still sitting patiently. George with his newfound swagger walked up to her and sat next to her. Beaming with confidence, he did something unexpected. Something un-George like. Unable to resist luck that filled the air that morning George asked Sarah out to dinner. The invitation was accepted.

The evening meal with Sarah was wonderful George thought. She was bright and intelligent. Their conversation was fluid, flowing from one subject to the next. “What a perfect evening” George thought. With the chocolate desert finished, the waiter brought out the bill. “So are you going to pay with that .25 cent quarter that I saw you goofly picking up earlier this morning?” Sarah said.

You Tube Clip

Turning into an Obsession

This ad isn’t selling, but it is telling a message through words. It copies the name of a perfume/cologne and uses it as its other meaning, Obsession. Instead of Obsession the fragrance, it’s actually obsession, meaning mania. The illustration shows a picture of a women’s body leaning over a toilet bowl and holding on to her stomach. Her back is faced to us, the audience. Through the black and sepia color scheme; the audience can see the bones in her back, indicating that she is too skinny. The women holding her body shows me that she is self conscious about her body and that she is in a lot of pain. The cause and effect of this ad is pointing out that there is too much pressure on women to have the nicest bodies and that bulimia has become an obsession for women. This appeals women trying to maintain that super model body. This parody uses the original ad by showing that the Ck Obsession models are really skinny and that their ads are setting a bad example for females to look exactly like the models on their ads. I think this ad is trying to get across, that this is the result and influence of the Ck ads on women. This ad is not cultural commentary because I don’t think the intended audience is one group of people, but this is to everyone, because women everywhere are conforming to bulimia. As a broader message I think this ad is saying don’t be forced to do this to oneself, because it’s not worth it. It will turn into an obsession.