Just go to the bathroom!

            The construction within culture of man and woman is nothing to grow offended by or defensive about. The bathroom sign is simply a sign hanging on a door to mark costumers into the right facility. If the author was arguing that we should have bathrooms that both men and women use than so be it, but I found her argument to be that these markers are in fact discrimination, which I find overdramatic and absurd.

            There are in fact, two and only two, genders in the world: man or woman. Now if you are confused because you were born a woman but later felt/became a man or vise versa than simply plan accordingly. If you were born into this world as a women but “became” a man or feel like you are a man than stick up for you intense convictions and go into the men’s restroom and that’s that. If you are so bold to walk around acting and proclaiming your manhood (but really were born a woman) then why in the world does your boldness stop at the bathroom door?

            I have found plenty of locations offer a family restrooms, open to anyone who may need it, thus providing a safe place for any confused distraught persons looking for a bathroom.

            Now as far as the pictures themselves on the doors: what would you suggest? Seriously, there are only so many options of indentifying which facility is for which gender. Sectioning the facilities into gender is by no means wrong or discriminating it is only a bathroom stall with a toilet that you spend literally seconds in to relieve your body. If for some reason you are so offended by the signs themselves then I suppose you can either shake the system and use opposite stalls or just never relieve yourself.

            Men no doubt dictate society, and although that is changing every passing day, it nonetheless is a well observable fact. Why must women take offense to that? Women, you have the full right and ability to achieve anything you desire especially here in America so just shut up and go where men go if you so feel the need. Women are naturally physically weaker than man, NEWSFLASH that is just reality, if you are so “offended” by that… then waste your life trying for some pointless reason to be the strongest woman in the world. Or just accept you are a woman and that society may classify you differently, because you are different than a man, and move on with life, just use the bathroom and move on.

            So what they put a dress on the women’s bathroom sign and not one on the men’s?? it is just a sign and it is just a dress. It does not mean that we, as women, are stupid, incompetent worthless dolls because we are portrayed with a dress.

            Culture manipulates the roles of women and men through countless ways but to go as far as depicting a bathroom sign as a secret force of cultural manipulation is just silly. These signs, none of them, are hurtful or detrimental. They are reality so just go to the bathroom.

Preliminary thoughts. true feelings version.

Although we did not blog for the public our feelings about writing itself, I will not hesitate to openly express my incredible dislike for it. This, no doubt, plays the weighty role on my feelings for this first writing assignment. Because I so avidly dislike the act of writing I inevitably dislike the first WRITING assignment. Now I wish my blog could stop there but 500 words is quite a bit away so now I will simply pour out my feelings to you about this assignment.

First of all, I have no time! As I am sure you do, I have so many other classes to focus on, not to mention the fact that this is my first semester of my freshmen year of college, inarguably a difficult period of adjustment in and of itself but then load up a weight load of pressing classes and you suddenly loose momentum. By the time I am done only writing out how to manage it all my next few hours have gone by!

How does this relate to this paper you may ask? Because after a filled weekend I find myself attempting the feat of a 5 page paper… in one night! Now, HOW STUPID, one might say to me. The tragedy is not this, the tragedy is the chunk of time I set aside this weekend devoted to my paper, only to find I had to use up all that time just to FIND an ad worth writing about. So here I sit, blogging my heart out!!! Frustrated at the intense lack of time, and the incredible inability I have to accomplish a paper thrown at me in such a short time. High school just simply was not like this.

Sooo, finally I found a topic to write a paper on, a commercial. Not my ideal piece of media but one that can fill five pages. The piece contains entrancing emotional appeals through its powerful music and startling images. It also encompasses the ethos by using Barack Obama as its authority no doubt giving it some sense of credibility. Then, like most commercials, ends with a strong logos appeal through showcasing the organization and disclaimer facts.

This commercial is effective in convincing you of something although after repeatedly watching it I loose its core message. After analyzing it piece-by-piece though it shows it strategically uses the elements of the rhetorical triangle.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, the roadblocks are innumerable. Although it is late and I am probably exaggerating quite a bit I find this task grueling and bubbling over with stress.  The hybridity has finally hit me, and I am detrimentally falling behind! I must overcome the lack of motivation and my insurmountable lack of time management! The roadblock of perfection must be demolished along with all the others. Above all I will conquer my dislike for writing. I will, somehow, produce my first paper for English 101 and it will knock your socks off! 

The Tricky Triangle

Doesn’t this picture just make you smile?!

Exactly the point. This ad for Lucky Charms cereal optimizes the Rhetorical Triangle.

Its appeal is first and foremost to kids. The author theoretically is this jolly little leprechaun, who is spreading his arms wide and smiling from ear to ear thus giving the audience an overwhelming sense of happiness and welcome. The leprechaun himself is representing the sheer joy one will undoubtedly obtain from buying and eating his particular cereal.

          The positioning of the leprechaun, the towering title and his presentation of the large bowl of cereal canopied by a incandescent rainbow are all arranged unevenly around the box keeping the eye jumping and excitedly engaged in all the box puts on show. Allowing the eye to catch all the promises on the box, from the color of the marshmallows, the size of the grain to the little facts of the proclaimed nutrition value.

         Choosing a magical creature such as an imaginary leprechaun gives the product a light and adventurous appeal. The ways the marshmallows are so clearly displayed in the air also maximize the products fine details entrancing the imagination of children! The title itself creates a story. The “pot of gold” analogy displayed also convinces the mind that this cereal is truly a treasure found at the end of a “rainbow”. So after any hard day at work or any rough morning beforehand this cereal can lift ones day and ignite ones spirit!

         This ad most definitely is pathos filled and pathos is its strongest appeal, through its innumerable innovative ways of capturing and manipulating emotions. But also has an ethical appeal (ethos), because a leprechaun is a childhood tale that transcends all races, religions, socioeconomic standings and authorities any audience that sees the ad will have a sense of equality and fairness.

         Lastly the small but strategic stamps on each corner each ensuring that this cereal is also healthy and credible thus exemplifying the logos element of the rhetorical triangle. The General Mills identification ensures that it is a well-known, well-produced brand from which many other cereals are produced. The guarantee of provided calcium and 12 vitamins and minerals and the statement that they are frosted whole grain oats appeals to the older audiences reasoning and logic. They will now feel that through buying this product they can please their Childs' imagination and want for sugar and also be providing other valuable nutrients!

         This ad performs ultimate persuasion through mastering each point in the rhetorical triangle. The elements of emotions (ethos) were satisfied through the bright uplifting colors and magical scenery producing happiness and childlike freedom. The element of ethos through placement and size of wording and choosing a universally neutral magical character allowing the product to easily sift the ranks of society. Lastly logos through the nutritional value promise appealing to the logic of why one should buy this product for themselves or others. It surely succeeded on convincing me to run to the store and buy some Lucky Charms!

        

567 words of something

It is always a humbling and enlightening experience to engage in piece of writing that is a self-applicable topic, such as recognizing and revising common writing flaws. Though this particular piece was rather on going and belaboring on minor points, it was non the less understandable and relevant.

The titled sections were notably common errors in nearly all writing and were topics that at first glance appeared simple so avoid. To my detriment though I soon found that each and every discussed topic was inherently hidden within my engrained style of writing. For instance the sections titled “Avoid the obvious content”, initially I jogged over this section assuming I foreknew everything it was going to say and that is was not something I needed to work on. Upon reading it a second time and attempting to write a blog about it I realized how often and how comfortable we are of writing the obvious content. Obviously this section was about content put it papers that everyone already is aware of, content the remedies itself useless because it is so well-known. As it mentions, often this information is included simply to meet a word count requirement, which is what I find myself doing nearly every time I sit down to write. This flaw is one that I was already aware of but did not want to protrude effort to demolish. I always figured that I could some how speak of the immediate idea just in an innovative way to make it sound like a completely different idea than what it, at is root, was. In high school I could choose the answer or subject that every other student also picked but attach so many extravagant words and extended sentences that it sounded poignant but was actually quite shallow and obvious.

The topic titled “take the less usual side” was a subject I have rarely devoted much thought to. After reading this section I found that in my own writing I lean towards my personal convictions rather than daring to oppose them and learn how to write powerful persuasions regardless of personal preferences.  For instance, I am passionate about Christianity so naturally if assigned a piece on religion I would immediately create a paper about Christianity. What Roberts convinced me of is that although you do not always have to defer from eminent matters you also, as a qualified writer have the freedom and power to write effectively any topic given to you, and when given the choice can be brave enough to choose the unconventional flavor!

Society does, often subconsciously; slither its way into our writing, from drawing us towards filling papers with the obvious content to confining us to choose uncontroversial topics. Another pull society has on our writing is what Roberts called “modesty”. We have been taught that saying “mentally ill” is a far more polite way to say retarded so within our writing we sway towards more vague explanations than seemingly “rude” words that may offend another or shatter a norm. If you return to the top of this blog you will see I called the reading “on going” when in reality all I meant was it took too long to read!

This paper was instrumental in reminding me of personal writing flaws but also refining methods to better my writing. Yet even still, I am anxious to see the next byproduct of Roberts’s instruction!

Technology is too complicated!

I do not appreciate how complicated technology is!