SWA #4

1. For this assignment I found the best examples of ads to analyze in the cigarette ads I found. The one cigarette ad is from Lucky Magazine and the other cigarette ad is from GQ Magazine.
2. Lucky Magazine is read by women between the ages of 18 and 50. It gives the fashionista her daily fix of how-to segments to the hottest trends right now. Working mothers, stay at home moms, even young college students can turn to this magazine for the update on what styles are in right now and how to wear them. GQ magazine is the male equivalent of vogue. It gives the middle age man an array of articles from travel to technology and from fashion to food. It hits all aspects of a sophisticated mans everyday lifestyle.
3. The ad i chose from Lucky magazine is the perfect example of how they can sell a cigarette brand in a girly way to appeal to women. What draws attention is the bright pink border that traces around the product, and in swirly letters entice the reader in knowing that this product is “new”. Front and center the product is shown in two sharp black boxes outlined in pink and green. To each side of the boxes is a stem of roses giving it a very graceful feel, classy and old fashioned. Below the boxes in delicate lettering are the words “light & luscious” which are the perfect words to describe the entire ad itself. The background is a dyed pink and champagne color which is very calm and classic. The ad i chose in GQ is themed with red and black. Two very manly colors that seem daring and sophisticated. The box of cigarettes is displayed in a 3D format with the cigarettes seeming to almost pop out of the page at you. The box they are shown in seems to be a red stainless steal box and around it pieces in the shape of the box are being thrown upward, almost as if the box is blowing open. On the top right next to the cursive cigarette brand name in straight letters it says “life is rich”. Overall a very striking classic ad with a modern twist.
4. I chose these ads because they are the perfect examples as to how ads stereotype towards women and men. It is very obvious that the black and red ad is from a mens magazine, while the pink girly ad is from the women’s magazine. They also show the values of the magazines as well, the mens magazine being classy and sophisticated. While the women’s magazine is classy, fun and very girly.

SWA #3

In Chapter One of Writing Arguments there is an image of an elderly man on page seven. He seems to be getting treated with an array of tubes going into his body, a big tube going into his mouth and machines on either side of him monitoring his progress. There seems to be no nurses around him, just his wife casually watching as Jack Kevorkian is projected on the screen announcing that he was released from jail while she says “physician-assisted suicide is just not natural”. This image is obviously strongly opposing the way elders are taken care of in nursing homes. Also, with the announcement of Kevorkian being released from jail it shows not much is being changed to fix the conditions.

The author of this image is using Pathos by showing specific details like the elderly man not being payed any attention to, and the announcement of Kevorkian’s release. This image makes a great impact on the viewer because it is the reality of the situation. People seem too relaxed about the treatment of the elderly, even the body language of the woman sitting next to the hospital bed seems to relaxed for the condition the man being treated is in. She does seem to be saying “physician-assisted suicide is just not natural”, however she seems to be disregarding a man suffering right by her side.

In the reading “What Will Future Generations Condemn For Us” the author points out how elderly today can live independently but are cut-off from their families. Even though we live in such a modern society with the amenities to make treatments easier and more efficient, it seems todays generations do not want to devote the time to their elders.

In personal experience my grandmothers husband was in a nursing home for 2 years before passing away. She struggled everyday with nurses and doctors trying to get the correct treatment for him, and getting them to make her husband a priority. Luckily for her, for a short period of time she could afford to have him treated in her own home. This way she knew he was safe and she could keep an eye on him and the nurse treating him at all times. This is not always the case, not everyone can afford to treat their loved ones in the comfort of their own home. Something must be changed in the system, families must pay more attention and physicians must realize the importance of their jobs and keeping people alive.

Get Smarter response

Get Smarter takes on a very different view of technology and the internet that I have never heard of before. Instead of pointing out all of its negative effects it can have, the author points out that we just have not learned the correct ways to use it yet. By starting off with the example of humans adapting to a new lifestyle after the Mount Toba incident, he leads into how humans today can also adapt to our changing lifestyle as well.

We live in a world that is constantly changing. We crave the newest technology advancement created to make our lives easier and make everyday tasks faster. However as argued in "Is Google Making Us Stupid" these advancements are only taking away from us and rewiring our brains making it more difficult for us to concentrate on tasks and get work done on our own. Comparing that article to Get Smarter I find Get Smarter to have a much more realistic look at technology rather than just complaining about it making life too easy. Technology comes with a whirlwind of possibilities for us for the future, we just have to learn how to use it the right way. I like how the author lead into the discussion about drugs like Adderal and Ritalin. So many disputes have been made about how using these drugs is "cheating" if you are not diagnosed with ADD. However, the author points out how it is no more cheating than it would be having payed for a better education or tutoring. It simply enhances your thinking, it doesn't make you into a super genius magically.

Overall I agree with the author of Get Smarter in that as technology keeps advancing, so do we. As more things change on the internet and in everyday life we just have to adapt to find ways to use them to better ourselves.

My Writing Experiences

I am a freshman transfer from University of South Carolina Upstate. I was accepted for the spring and have been looking forward to coming here for a long time. Last semester in my English 101 class we spent a lot of time doing short papers and rhetorical analysis’. Our focus throughout the semester was on the book How Does It Feel To Be a Problem by Moustafa Bayoumi. The book focuses on five young Arab Americans and their struggles with race in America today.

My greatest accomplishment in last semesters course was definitely when we shifted the focus away from Bayoumi’s book and were able to write a research paper on a topic chosen based on our own interests in controversial topics today. My paper focused on teens and the influence the media has on them. I felt since I was so interested in the topic I could really find good sources about what I wanted to talk about, and then give my input as well.

My best writing experience was in high school when I took the Language of Media class offered by my school. I had a very interesting teacher who gave us fun activities in class to learn about what goes on behind the scenes in the media. For writing in that class we had a lot of opportunities to write what was on our mind. For me writing should be about expressing your own feelings, and this class gave me the chance to speak what was on my mind instead of being assigned what to talk about. My worst writing experiences come from when I am assigned topics to write about that include learning about them first. I have not had very good luck in writing about things that I do not have interest in. I was affected most by my Literature of Media class because I learned how to write my own feelings and that it can be fun, rather than tedious.