Gaming

Avatars allow gamers to be whoever they want to be for a certain amount of time in front of a certain audience.  It allows some people to make the only "friends" they have, while other people just enjoy a little video game in their free time.  For some, gaming is an escape from reality.  Personally, I find the whole thing pretty freaking weird.  However, I am biased since I am not a gamer and never have been.  I have watched my brothers waste countless hours on stupid video games when they could have  been out socializing or getting things done.

Finding a Topic

The passage was written to help students pick out a topic to write about and narrow it down.  The first step is to ask yourself questions.  Realize what is currently important to you and what current issues you don't understand. Ask friends and family what issues matter to them.  A little online research can help to give you a few topic ideas.  Narrowing these down can be done by writing a little bit about each of them.  Ask yourself why people will care, if they will care, and what they already know about the topic.  You know your topic is successfully narrowed when it is linked to an issue or controversy that will interest your audience.  For example, the general topic sports can b e narrowed to college sports training and men's body images.  Keep an open mind, and test the narrowness of your topic with a Google search.  Brainstorming is necessary. Think of everything that relates to your topic, and then put it on paper.  Organize these thoughts with a graphic organizer.  Guide your research with questions, and try to answer them all.

Visual Rhetoric Essay

My first thoughts on the assignment were along the lines of "WTF. How am i supposed to write that much about a single advertisement?"  However, as I was writing the paper it became easier.  I realized that 1500 words is not too ridiculously much and that there are many aspects of any ad that can be analyzed.

Fat Is an Advertising Issue

I love that Dove is making a campaign to promote women loving their bodies as they are.  However, it just all seems a little pointless.  I'm sorry, but when I am looking through my Cosmopolitan magazine I want to read about fashion and beauty.  I don't want to see a picture of a bunch of chubby moms in underwear, and I don't know that anyone does.  I absolutely LOVE the Dove video showing how the industry alters the model's look.  I find that video extremely effective, and more things like this would help.  The underwear pictures are honestly just weird and a waste of time in my opinion.  While I applaud the cause, I find this dumb.  Also, is Orbach from Scotland? She uses the word "mums" not moms.  I suppose it could be a typo.

Don't Smile for the Camera

I found this writing very interesting.  The first thing that struck me about this was the overuse of the phrase "Kodak moment".  Of course a way was found to make this excerpt into an advertisement.  Honestly, I found the whole passage to be pretty cheesy.  The message being delivered is that we should celebrate the mundane, goofy moments instead of only documenting the "perfect" ones.  However, who wants to send out a Christmas card of the family in pajamas or with unkempt hair? Noone.  Who wants to sell the house using pictures of cluttered rooms and muddy floors? Noone.  They want a put-together, happy looking family with good hygiene and style.  They want to brag using their Christmas card.  Who wants to take pictures of a filthy house? Noone.  They want to remember it spotless, whether it was or was not actually that way.The passage ends with "We have gained a Kodak moment and lost the story of our lives."  This is the dumbest statement I have ever read.