Month: November 2018

Painting by Danny Quirk via Pinterest 

There wasn’t any context of the painting but the painting can be used to argue that even the strongest people may need help even if it doesn’t seem like it. In the painting the soldier is kneeling while crying but also holding a mask of his that seems to be ok. Even if someone looks happy they may not feel the same way inside. The painting does a great job of capturing two different perspectives of what’s in the inside and what is shown on the outside.  Soldiers are seen as brave and sometimes people forget the effects that war can have on a person’s mental state.

The painting is very somber and uses a dark shadow background which can be used to show the darkness of war. The things that stand out the most is his two faces, everything else is more dull and muted. he soldiers in his uniform to show how important it is to him to fight for his country. He is also holding a rifle to keep him balanced which can be interpreted as even though it is helping him in the war and helping him stay balanced in the painting it is also hurting him because he isn’t happy.

Since war is something that will always be around, we should try to make sure that we can help people in need. The picture really makes us sympathize with those in the military. We will never truly understand what it is like because we aren’t there. This makes us think about our family members, friends, or other servicemen and women. This could be how they feel inside but we might not know because of the smiles they wear to mask the pain.

Mental health is something that has really been a big topic this year and has been taken more seriously. We can use this picture to remember that even the strongest soldiers need a shoulder to cry on.

In this Ted Talk by Dao Nguyen, she talks about what makes things go viral. Dao Nguyen is a publisher at Buzzfeed and she explains why many of their posts go viral. The main theme in her talk is that things go viral because of how it makes the viewers feel. People are more likely to share things that they can relate to, male them feel good about themselves, or funny. She discusses content cartography and how things have a job for the reader/viewer. The speech did a great job at expanding my knowledge about the subject. Everyday there is something online that goes viral. The question of “how does something go viral” is best explained by telling why something goes viral. It is more about what people are thinking and feeling rather than what is actually happening in the video or post. I like this topic because it is something that I see in everyday life. Most things go viral on social media which I personally use everyday and since it is a way to connect people most memes go viral because of the connection people make to themselves or others in their life. One of the viral Buzzed videos she discussed was the watermelon and rubber bands video which I actually watched when it first happened. She explained how it was the anticipation of seeing what will happened that kept us watching. Dao Nguyen also made the point that people like to feel like “this is me” or be able to humble brag, this is something that I do and see other do. How many times have you commented on a post or sent something to your friend saying “this is so me”?

The speaker did a great job organizing her speech. Everything flowed together and the visuals worked very well with her presentation. She didn’t didn’t just speak just to give a speech, she presented her topic. I like how she “warmed up” the audience by giving an anecdote first. She told a short story that related to her topic then explained why it was important. The difference between delivering a speech and doing a presentation is that with doing a speech you just cite your thesis and speak about your topic. With a presentation you have visuals and find a way to interact with your audience. Overall, Dao’s presentation definitely made me understand more about vitality and how  the subject has a specific job for the viewer or reader.

For this video I will be analyzing the beginning up until 2 minutes ( 0:00-2:00).This video shows a politician by the name of Phil Davison who is running for the Stark County treasurer position. Unfortunately Phil’s speech wasn’t very good and definitely wasn’t persuasive. Phil’s speech didn’t have a good start. In the beginning he started off bad by looking down at his speech that was written down and moving around the podium instead of staying in one spot. His eye contact was horrible because he couldn’t stop reading his speech. It was very obvious that he didn’t practice or go over his speech ahead of time. Throughout the entire speech, he yelled at his audience instead of speaking calmly to them. He also stumbled on his words a lot.

Organization: For the part that I am analyzing it is kinda organized. He started off by introducing himself and what he was running for then. He also talked about his education and his accomplishments.

Persuasive Appeal: His persuasive appeal is really bad. Even though he is passionate about his topic, he is too passionate about it. He doesn’t give his audience a chance to think about what he is saying he is just pointing and them and ranting. It is ironic that he has a master’s degree in communication but doesn’t communicate well with his audience. The delivery of his speech was off. If he would have taken is time and had an appropriate tone, his speech could have been better.

My overall assessment of his speech is that it was really bad. Honestly I thought it was joke when I first watched it. The only thing he did well was speak loud enough for  everyone to hear him. He relied to much on his paper instead of making sure he had good eye contact. If he rehearsed or practiced I think he would have done better. It was hard to take his serious because he kept moving around and yelling.