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January, 2013

  1. Ad Analysis Brainstorming

    January 31, 2013 by Stef Smith

    1. Some people like to talk about introductions as “funnels”–you start “broad,” and narrow down to the specific claim. Well, okay, but you can’t spell funnel without “fun.” You want to make your funnel more interesting than, say, “Ads have existed for years” or “Advertising is everywhere.” If your first sentence makes me want to say, “Well, duh?” it’s not good. Rather than starting with the dawn of time, you want to come in at an angle, so to speak. You don’t merely want to talk about the fact that the ad exists. You want to think about the cultural moment (or kairos), the rhetorical situation, or the ideas at work that undergird the ad’s premises and appeals. Brainstorm interesting ways to start your paper here by:

    Listing some commonplaces your ad draws upon:  To today’s generation of teenagers, texting and driving is become somewhat ordinary.

    Considering the rhetorical situation or the cultural moment: The campaign mainly uses pathos to grab the audience.  Watching the boy struggle to speak and put his sweater on gives a real life example of what the consequences of texting and driving can be.  It brings the audience to a sense of reality.

    Comparing it to other campaigns or ways of advertising: It’s not the ordinary campaign, that will use humor, sarcasm, or unrealistic ploys to catch the audience’s attention.

    2. Getting the thesis to be properly analytical is probably the hardest part of the paper. Initially, it’s helpful to try to formulate your thesis like this. Try three different versions of this.

    By drawing upon  __________, [Advertising campaign] does what? (the answer has to be more complicated than “appeals to its customers”)

    Speculating on the “No Text is Worth Brain Damage” campaign, the audience is brought to a sense of realism based on the narrator’s own experiences and well-being due to a careless driver who sent a text that could’ve waited.

    ^^Something like that!

    3. Consider how you will paragraph your paper. What will each paragraph be about. List them here.

    Introduction

    1st paragraph – open up by asking the reader if she/he has ever texted while driving, admit to it myself, description of commercial and how we don’t realize the devastating effects of texting and driving, how commercial is unlike others

    2nd paragraph – strong pathos (told his story, spoke simply, proving the point of the commercial without having the narrator (victim) try)

    3rd paragraph – also appeals to ethos (believablility) and logos (statement of “no text is worth seriours brain damage” is obvious, but no one realizes and/or listens to it unless they see the effects it can cause)

    conclusion – tie everything up

    4. Sometimes it’s helpful to make your paper more comparative in nature. Even if you don’t include the other campaigns or strategies in your actual paper, it’s useful to consider them just to generate ideas about how your ad or campaign is distinctive. Think about what other ads do or don’t do here. You might think about: What commonplaces to they work with compared to your campaign? What images or aesthetics drive them? How do they engage ethos, irony, humor?

    It doesn’t use humor, sarcasm, or unrealistic ploys such as something like “use this skin product and look like Megan Fox.”  Most commercials are uplifting, cheerful, or funny.  Not many ads tend to be as upsetting as one like this.  Appealing to the audience’s emotions of grief, grabs their attention to just how devasting the consequences of texting and driving can be.  The commercial is especially credible due to the fact that the narrator is a victim of it. (ethos)


  2. Italy 2006

    January 29, 2013 by Stef Smith

    Would anyone care for some gnocci?  Or how about risotto con fungi?  Those right there are my absolute favorite dishes ever since they were introduced to me when I vacationed in Italy.  I’ve vacationed there twice, and I must say I definitely would go back.  I’m actually planning on studying abroad there next summer.  I come from an Italian background and took four years of Italian classes, although still can’t speak it. 🙁

    I vacationed there in 2006 and 2008 and I cannot tell you one bad thing about it.  It is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to by far, whether it be because of the architecture, the scenery, the monuments and various statues, the language, or the music.  I’m in love with everything about Italy, and if you’ve ever been there I’m sure you can say the same.  Everyone is so polite.  Most people can speak English, so its not hard to get by.  Although, I specifically would ask people to speak to me in Italian so I could brush up on my skills (my goal is to eventually become fluent.)

    I’ve swam in Lake Garda (the largest lake in Italy), shopped at Piazzo San Marco St. Mark’s Square in Venice (amazing stores),  San Remo (where my parents did some gambling and also amazing place to shop), Breschia, Milano, and a few other smaller towns.  Next time I visit, I must go to Rome!  During one of my visits, we stayed on a family friend’s yacht for half of the vacation.  It wasn’t just any ordinary yacht.  The Vagabunda looked like a pirate ship.  On the Vagabunda we sailed the Mediterranean to various places in Italy, Cannes in France, and Monte Carlo in Monaco.  I got a dosage of three different cultures in just a few days.  Between setting dock in these various places, we would stop in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea and set anchor for a swim.  It became a game of who could jump from the highest places on the ship!

    All in all, Italia is a beautiful country and I highly recommend it to anyone interested.  It has a way about it that gives me such a deep feeling of connection to it (probably because it’s where I come from.)  I wanted to add better pictures, but they’re all home!  My dad sent me a few though and here they are!

    The Vagabunda, the yacht we stayed on.

    The Vagabunda, the yacht we stayed on.

    Coming up from a swim in the Mediterranean with my dad!

    Coming up from a swim in the Mediterranean with my dad!

    Monte Carlo, Monaco!

    Monte Carlo, Monaco!

    San Remo Casino in Italy!

    San Remo Casino in Italy!

    Jumping off the Vagabunda! Sorry it's sideways!

    Jumping off the Vagabunda! Sorry it’s sideways!


  3. Essay 1 Outline

    January 29, 2013 by Stef Smith

    I’ve chosen the commercial, “No Text is Worth Brain Damage” to write my rhetoric essay on.  The commercial starts with him holding up a sign of the words from the text message that made him like this.  From watching the commercial, the viewers are able to tell he is suffering from traumatic brain damage due to his speech impediment and his from watching him put on a sweater.  He explains he wants to give up, but instead declares he’ll “fight on.”  He shows the text message again that “changed his life forever.” The commercial ends with the line, “no text is worth permanent brain damage.”

    1. Introduction

    • brief description of commercial
    • The “No Text is Worth Brain Damage” commercial is an extremely effective use of rhetoric in order to persuade the audience not to text and drive.
    • Clearly, texting and driving is bad, but the commercial’s ability to use personal experience allows the audience to not only identify with the victim, but also, to empathize (Pathos).
    • The purpose of this commercial is to persuade the audience that sending a text message is not worth the possible consequences.

    – Done by using the actual victim in the commercial (ethos/credibility)

    • Simple but powerful slogan of “No text is worth brain damage” (logos)

    2. Body Paragraphs

    • Go into depth on…..
    1. description of commercial
    2. mainly pathos and how the article appeals the viewers’ emotions, ethos and how the viewer the concept can truly be captured because he actually experienced it, and logos with the obvious statement at the end.

    3.  Conclusion

     


  4. Cheesy Punctuation

    January 24, 2013 by Stef Smith

    In The Dairy, Case Ripe Prose

    They can tell you about torment. They can describe long frustrating hours sitting in dark stinky basements and caves, pen in hand trying to get the flow of the words just right.

    Tina Fineberg for The New York Times

    Martin Johnson, cheese and charcuterie manager at Gastronomie 491, writes signs using wit and cultural references to entice buyers.

    They can tell you, too, about how it feels to be engulfed in a blaze of inspiration. They’ll describe the delirium of bliss when the right lines come. Like all writers, they are keenly aware of the competition and envy eats away at them when they detect in one of their comrades a candle-flicker of genius.

    We speak naturally of cheesemongers.

    Although not universally acknowledged as members of New York’s creative class, the people who sell cheese arguably deserve a place of recognition alongside the poets and the playwrights, the folk singers, and the indie screenwriters.

    In case you haven’t noticed, some of the most amusing and captivating writing in the city is being produced in the service of cheese.

    …….

    Take the Bedford Cheese Shop, which is based in both Brooklyn and Manhattan. Behold how the Bedford squad captures the essence of Mastorazio, a raw sheep’s milk cheese from Italy.

    “The Lindsay Lohan of the cheese world; this pecorino has a tan leathery exterior that surrounds a delicate yellow paste. With hints of herbs and the aroma of hay; you can almost hear the bleating of Lindsay up in the Italian hills. Pair with nicotine, Red Bull, and an alcohol monitor.”

    Or how about Nocturne from Andante Dairy in California? Here’s the lowdown from Team Bedford:

    “Icelandic ponies. Japanese cats on the Internet. Yawning puppies. Toddlers who give each other hugs. Goats climbing all over everything. Pink and green macaroons. Red pandas. Sparkly nail polish. Do you get where I’m going? Cute things. This cheese is so perfect and cute and delicious you just want to marry it.”

    Can you match that, or even better, top it? We’d like to invite you to try.

    If you’ve got a favorite cheese and a fragrant way with words, we here at the Dining section cordially invite you to submit the wittiest description of that cheese that you can dream up.

    Havarti haiku, Vacherin villanelle, Reblochon rant. Use whatever form of expression you wish. Just keep the cheese riff to 75 words or less. And submit it here. Later in the week we’ll pick a champion.

     

    Melt in your mouth delicious; pepperjack cheese is one you can’t pass up.  The tiny, red flakes embedded in the soft, white cheese is what really gives this cheese it’s flavor.  It’s spicy, yet not too overbearing.  It must be eaten with the right things, so pair it with a trisket and a cold beverage to bring this cheese’s flavors to their full potential.


  5. Rhetoric Paper Ideas

    January 22, 2013 by Stef Smith

    I don’t really watch much television, but I find that the most persuasive commercials are the ones that appeal to my emotions.  Of course seeing a beautiful girl model for cover up make up makes me want to look like that girl, but I know the cover up won’t do the job entirely.  So, for my paper I think I would like to right about the commercials that have to do with drunk driving or texting and driving.  These commercials really catch my attention whenever they come on, more so than any other commercial I’ve seen.


  6. Curacao

    January 21, 2013 by Stef Smith

    When I awoke in the morning, I heard the waves crashing on the beach.  I would walk over to the balcony and look out to see paradise, crystal clear blue water, palm trees, tiki huts, and the soft sand just under my nose.  How could life get any better?  It couldn’t, and this is why Curacao was my favorite vacation.

    Curacao is a very tiny island right next to Aruba.  Not many tourists go there since they all flock to Aruba, so it was extremely relaxing.  I went with my parents and my best friend, Allie.  We went to dinner at a different place each day and did a few activities rather than laying on the beach all day every day (although that was my favorite part).  One of the first things we did was we took a day long trip on a boat and went snorkeling.  To be honest, it wasn’t my thing.  I get very sea sick and I hate fish!  It was pretty cool to see all the pretty fish, but they were every where!  They were swimming past me and touching me, I was freaked out to say the least.  Allie and I followed the leader of the group to a drop off.  A drop off is where the water immediately got extremely deep.  I watched him dive down really far and remember being really impressed with how long he could hold his breath.  When he came back up he told all of us to look down and asked if we could see a big group of fish a ways down below us.  We all agreed that we saw them, and he announced that they were barracudas.  I practically crapped my pants.  I was terrified and swam so fast back to the boat that I lost my flippers!  The snorkeling trip was definitely an experience, but not an experience I think I’d do again.

    Another thing we did was we went ATV’ing.  We rode these quads all around the island.  The island is pretty small so it took about four hours for us travel around it.  The guide brought us to amazing cliffs with beautiful views of the ocean and the town.  He also brought us to a bat cave and an aloe farm.  I thought ATV’ing would be my least favorite thing of the vacation, but it ended up being so much fun.  I was riding up just as fast as the guide and he would get frustrated with me because he could never get a good picture of me since I was always going too fast!  I had a blast though, so I didn’t mind about getting crappy pictures.

    Riding around the island made me realize how differently people live there than how we live here.  Some people had bushes and cardboard for houses, and others that did have houses were run down.  Not everyone lived that way there, but a lot of the native people did.  A lot of people from the Netherlands come to live in Curacaco and they’re usually the ones with nicer houses and better clothes.   Almost everyone who lived there was extremely nice and very welcoming.  A lot of our cab drivers would teach us about their native language, Papiamentu.  Danki dushi literally means “thanks sweet.”  Dushi is an endearing term that’s heard all over the island.  There were T-shirts everywhere we went that said “dushi Curacao.”  Papiamentu is mixture of Dutch, English, Spanish, and if I’m not mistaken I think German too.  I know it was a mix of four different languages.  We got a real sense of Curcaco way of life when we went shopping in the capital, Willemstad.  They’ve adopted a lot of what the Netherlands looks like with the architecture and brightly colored buildings. They had many small shops with little vacation gifts, but they also had popular stores like Pandora.  I actually got one of my first charms for my pandora bracelet in Curacao.

    Overall, my vacation in Curacao was something I will never forget.  It was absolutely beautiful, the food was delicious, the music was fun and lively, the people were amazing, and I had such a fun and relaxing time.  I would go back in a heart beat and would love to visit some of the more popular beaches next time!  They have five popular beaches on the island and I heard they’re something you can’t pass up!  I hope to revisit in the future, and I highly suggest it to someone who is looking for a great place to vacation!  Here are some pictures…

    View from our blacony

    View from our blacony

    IMG_5670

    snorkeling!

    snorkeling!

    ATV'ing!

    ATV’ing!


  7. Description, Fun, and Games

    January 17, 2013 by Stef Smith

    1. In the Coach advertisement, Gwyneth Paltrow portrays a sense of casual beauty. 
    2. Gwyneth happily leans over a balcony.  She looks as though she’s laughing and having fun.  Most advertisements depict women laying down, touching themselves, or with a serious face, but because Gwyneth does none of these, the advertisement comes off as more laid back.  She look as though she has not a care in the world and is enjoying her life.
    3. Gwyneth looks as though she is a working woman who lives in an urbanized area and enjoys every day life.
    4. This image shows that pure beauty and happiness doesn’t require wealth.  It gives the feeling that any middle class woman could be like Gwyneth because most advertisements portray a sense of beauty that some woman can’t relate to.

  8. Passion Blog Ideas

    January 15, 2013 by Stef Smith

    Of course I have a few passions for things, but I’m only really interested in writing a passion blog about one.  I feel that traveling would be the best thing for me to write about.  I’ve traveled to many places in my short eighteen years and I really love it.  I started traveling when I was extremely young because of my father’s job.  His job would require him to go to a lot of conventions to different places and he’d bring me and the rest of my family along.  I still go to many places due to his conventions but we started to go to very interesting places for our past few vacations.  I love going somewhere new, learning about the people, the culture, different music, food, ect.  I’m excited to start a blog about it!


  9. Hello world!

    January 8, 2013 by Stef Smith

    Welcome to WordPress at TLT Labs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!


  10. Test

    January 8, 2013 by Stef Smith

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