Blog 8- Memes

In class we discussed different types of memes and how they present an argument. My partner and I found this image to create a meme using juxtaposition. The image shows a pretty cheap looking house with a nice Infinity SUV parked out front. This leaves the audience to assume that the person spent a better portion of their money on their car instead of their home. Some people would disagree with using money that way because they think a house is more important than a car. The text reinforces the idea that the person spent money on something that is less important by simply saying “priorities” and leaving the image to do the rest of the persuading. Juxtaposition can be used on websites, poster advertisements, or really any other type of ad trying to make an argument. It is a beneficial way to create an argument because it supports images that do not or should not typically go together by connecting them with text to bring the idea together.

Blog 7- Columbus Day

In class we viewed some different arguments for a name change for Columbus Day. The most effective argument that I thought influenced me the most was the Columbus Day Comic by The Oatmeal. The page was easy to read and it offered a lot of new information that I did not know about before. I wasn’t really that interested in the topic but the presentation on The Oatmeal made me want to read more. The page used images, words, and statistics to persuade the audience to change the name of Columbus Day to something else.

The video was moving but it fell short for me because I remember the visuals and the history of the web page on Oatmeal more than I remember the words the people in the video used. The video appealed to pathos and did make me feel bad for those individuals who are offended by the name of the holiday but still overall I didn’t walk away from the video persuaded. The images on the Oatmeal page, like the stick figures crossed out to represent a small number of people killed by Christopher Columbus’ acts stuck out to me more than the anything in the video.

The final memes that we looked at were not very good at presenting an argument persuading the audience to change the name of the holiday. The biggest set back that I noticed was that not everyone would know that the picture was of Christopher Columbus so then the whole point of the meme would be lost. Since it was a meme, there wasn’t any background or good argument of why the name should be changed, therefore the audience might not realize the importance of the issue. Again the Oatmeal presentation made up for the flaw with the meme because it explained some history pertaining to Christopher Columbus and what he did so that the audience could conclude that he wasn’t not someone that should be honored with a holiday.

Blog 6- Implicit & Explicit Arguments

Implicit Argument

This image creates an implicit argument for the hair product company Pantene. The woman in the picture has hair long enough to cover her whole body and the ad just features the product name, the rest is up to the audience to decide. The implied argument that Pantene is trying to make is that their Pro-V product will help hair grow long and healthy because the woman’s hair in the picture looks that way. They hope that the audience will see the picture, want the same results and buy their product. Although I think the message is clear in this ad, some issues can arise when using implicit arguments. Not all people may understand or connect the image with the idea that the product will product those results. Basically not everyone will get the right message from the ad and therefore it will be ineffective for the company.

Explicit Argument

This image uses an explicit argument to sell the product. Garnier effectively uses the image to show the results of their hair product but, unlike the Pantene ad, this ad also uses words to verify their image and create a stronger argument. You can see by the image that this product is advertising long, strong hair because the long braid is wrapped around the bottle as if she is pulling it in with her hair and then the words verify what the audience is seeing. This type of argument is usually more effective because the viewer is not forced to create their own opinion about what the product will do, the advertisement says it all.

Blog 5- Invention Exercise

When I was deciding on a topic for my final project I wanted to make sure I chose something that I was interested in and that also taught me something new. I wanted to explore a new idea pertaining to young adults and so narrowed my ideas down to either something college, education, or social life related. I decided on something both college and social life related. I picked the topic of cohabitation before marriage because I know a lot of friends and peers my age that are beginning to live with their boyfriends. I also recently moved in with my boyfriend, so the topic is even more interesting because I can relate to the information. I am interested in learning if living with your partner before deciding to marry them has a positive or negative effect on the future relationship.

I want to craft my argument to support the idea of living with your significant other before you decide if they are the one you want to spend the rest of your life with. In my opinion it is a good idea to live together first so I am interested to see what information my research gathers and if it will support my opinion. I just don’t think you can truly know someone until you spend time living with them and getting to know their habits. I want to make my argument appealing to young adults and easy and enjoyable to read. I want to create a web page or something like that to present my argument. There is academic research to support my topic and from what I have seen so far I think I will easily be able to come up with plenty of support for my thesis.

Blog 4- Annotated Bibliography

Thesis:

While living together after getting married is the traditional route for many Americans, cohabitation is becoming increasingly popular for couples today and creates an increased understanding of what marriage may actually be like before the commitment is definitively established.

Bumpass, Larry L., James A. Sweet. “National Estimates of Cohabitation.” Demography Nov. (1989): 615-

625. JSTOR. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.

Although this article is older, I want to use it to show statistics from before the 2000’s to now. I think the source will be beneficial when presenting the argument that over time, cohabitation has become more popular, accepted, and leads to successful marriages. It will allow me to give past perspective on the issues related to cohabitation and the changes that have developed over time.

Fox, Lauren. “The science of Cohabitation: A Step Toward Marriage, Not a Rebellion.” The Atlantic Mag.,

20 Mar. 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.

This magazine article will be useful in my argument because it supports my thesis and gives plenty of information on the commitment and success rates of marriage if living together is the first step. It uses verifiable resouces to make the argument and there are links that I will be able to use to also give me more information on my topic. I like this article because it discusses cohabitation and its effects over time.

Kuperberg, Arielle. “Age at Coresidence, Premarital Cohabitation, and Marriage Dissolution” Journal of

                Marriage and Family. 76.2 (2014): 352-369. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.

This source will be useful for my argument because it also discusses age considerations and the success of marriages related to age and living together first. The article supports my thesis and gives new information on the rates of successful marriages and cohabitation. It also provides information on how age considerations do affect the success rate and how age will contribute to future marriage.

Luscombe, Belinda. “How Shacking Up Before Marriage Affects A Relationship’s Success.” Time.Com

(2014): 1. Corporate ResourceNet. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.

This source will be useful in my argument because it supports my thesis and will help me prove my point that living together does help marriage success. The article discusses research that proves cohabitation has increased the number of successful marriages and that unlike previously believed, cohabitation does not lead to divorce.

McMahon, Maureen. “Cohabitation And Domestic Partnerships.” Research Starters Sociology (Online

 Edition) (2009): Research Starters. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.

This source will be useful in my argument because it gives a lot of insight on statistical and factual information that relates to cohabitation. I will be able to use this source to provide facts on my argument and show angles of the argument that my other sources have not presented. The article discusses consequences, discrimination, and law related to living together before marriage and I think all of those will be helpful in presenting my argument.

Thornton, Arland, William G. Axinn, and Yu Xie. Marriage And Cohabitation. Chicago: University of

Chicago Press, 2007. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 19 Nov. 2014.

This source will be useful in capturing an audience of young adults. This book discusses marriage and cohabitation related to a younger population in the United States so I hope it will help spark interest in the young adults and will broaden my argument from being about adults age 30 and up to adults from age 20 on. This source also interests me because it considers family factors in the decision to live with a significant other and how parents and childhood influence that choice.

Blog 3

In class we practiced using different mediums to see how each one changed our writing style and to prove that McLuhan was indeed correct when making the argument that our processes change when different mediums are used. I began explaining my writing style at the station with the blank paper and pencil. To begin with, I work best when I am alone and there is no tv or music in the background. I usually do my best work when I am under pressure to meet a deadline or if I am able to get right to work when I feel inspired. I reflect on the prompt for a few days and maybe begin an introduction paragraph. Then once I feel ready to continue, I will go back to the draft and finish the paper. I really try to finish my whole paper in one sitting, otherwise I feel like I forget the flow or where I was going with my ideas if I come back. I prefer to print my document and edit that way, rather than editing on the screen. It helps me find more mistakes if I see a hard copy of my work.

While I was writing about my process I realized I was using an entirely different process to explain myself. Since I had blank paper, I was writing large and felt conscious of keeping my lines straight and neat. I also did not write as much, I took quite a few breaks because my hand was tired and I didn’t really want to write a lot down. I moved on to a few more stations and then got back to a lined piece of paper and a pen. There I reflected and described what I found out about my writing process with each medium.

When I used the computer to type, my writing process was the most comfortable. That was to be expected for me because I have been using the computer for most of my time in college so it is what I prefer now. I used a word document and typed quite a  bit more than what I did writing free hand or when I was using my phone to type my thoughts. I was quickly and easily able to edit my ideas without thinking to hard which is much different than my free hand process. When writing on paper I have to be editing and revising as I write, but with the computer I have  some leeway to make mistakes and quickly backspace or spell check to correct them.

I found my editing process to be affected the most when using different mediums to create my ideas. I have to constantly edit in my head when writing free hand but when I move to cell phone or laptop I immediately noticed a change in my work. I was easily able to flow out my thoughts and have the backspace and other editing features of the laptop to back me up and help correct my mistakes. Overall I definitely felt and understood the changes that McLuhan discussed and I agree that different mediums do have an effect on the writing process.

Blog 2: Presentation Plan

My presentation tomorrow is over an app called PicStitch, which is a photo editing app. I plan to have each student download the app at the beginning of my presentation so that they can follow along with me during my presentation. I created a presentation using the online tool Prezi, it worked really well for me. It was my first time using that presentation software and I will probably be using it again.

Each bubble contains a certain step with a screenshot of that step. I plan to use those visual aids as well as everyone following along on their phones to help guide my presentation. I included a video that I will play at the end to reinforce the app and to show the students a quick basic tutorial of the information I covered. I think seeing it in one smooth video will answer questions and concerns as well as hit on things I may have missed in the presentation. I am including the link of my Prezi presentation to show what my visual aid will be.

http://prezi.com/oclucrnddbd3/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Blog 1

Marshall McLuhan’s “The Medium is the Message” presents media and technology in a way that I have never thought of it before. He argues that the medium has more value than the message that is being portrayed. I had a hard time understanding his views at first because I have always believed that the message coming from the television, radio, paintings or anything else for that matter, is the most important thing. When I think of television, I don’t think about the actual technology of it, I think about whatever I am watching. That has always been where the message comes from for me. Now that I have been exposed to McLuhan’s views on medium I can better understand the ideas he believed. For example, in the video we watched in class McLuhan says that what we say on the telephone doesn’t matter as much as the actual technology of the telephone device. That made absolutely no sense to me because my first thought was of course what you say on the phone matters or why else would you be on it? But then after more explanation and remembering what I read in his article, I realized that McLuhan was saying that it’s the overall “medium” of the telephone that has the greatest impact on society, not necessarily what one small phone conversation between two people is about. Technology has affected each and every one of us and how we go about our daily lives. Actually using the telephone to contact another person has a much greater environmental effect on society and has given us opportunities to communicate that we have not always had. Overall, I think the point McLuhan is trying to make when he says “the medium is the message” is that no matter what the message is behind the technology, it is the use and advancement of technology itself that has shaped and changed us to communicate and function how we do today.

 

 

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