observation 15

"Beyond Multiculturalism: A Two-Way Transformation" gets to the heart of what really makes an American an American. What really makes an American when everyone in this country comes from different places? The author, Bharati Mukherjee talks about his journey of coming to the United States. He is from Calcutta and came here via airplane to Iowa. He is now a naturalized citizen was a certificate of citizen. The point is that everyone in this country comes from different places and the fact that we are all citizens and live in this country is what makes us all Americans.

observation 14

"Reinventing America. Call for  New Identity" starts off by saying a lot about what if racism and minority/majorities were reversed. It is definatley an interesting thing to start thinking about. One example that I thought was really interesting was when she used the example of the dick and jane books (the ones that little kids use to learn simple words and how to read) and how now a days there are people out there who would like to go back to those times when using the stereotypical white people were the clear cut version of what was right. Another interesting example was an ad for Time Magazine that is discussed. It is a bunch of babies in their hospital cribs, all of them black with the exception of one and a caption that says "Hey whitey! It's your turn at the back of the bus!" It is interesting to think about the possibility of all of that changing. To think that the current minority now could become the majority. I don't know if it it necessarily possible but it's cool to think about how much everything would change if that were the case.

observation 13

The reading and discussion of "Institutionalizing Our Demise: America vs. Multiculturalism" prompted an interesting discussion in class. This essay was about in essence, what makes a real american. Obviously people have their own view and their own opinion about all of that. The class discussion lasted the entire class time. The main thing being discussed was the fact that no matter what you believe, everyone has to agree and accept that everyone living in this country did come from somewhere else. People have been coming over to American from other places for forever. So what exactly constitutes an american. I think the bottom line is that no matter your opinion, everyone really is an american because people come from all places and they settle here and make it home.

observation 12

I thought that the cross campus blog project was a really cool idea. We got to comment and put forth our own opinion and input into song lyrics. The song that I had was a song about war and the writer of the song was saying that war is good for nothing basically. This was a really strong message to convey so it was cool to get to hear everyone's opinion on it. Most people brought it back to certain wars in particular, especially the Iraq war, and some people alluded to the Vietnam War. This was a really cool thing to do to be able to hear different people's opinion's on these topics. The people who commented and said their opinion were from a few different schools, had different backgrounds, and a variety of majors. It really opened my eyes to hear everyone's opinion on it. 

observation 11

Making a satire was, I'm sure, another hard project to put together. You have to fine the balance of making it silly, funny, and random, while still covering real stories. The main points of this group were to have anchors who had charisma and could pull out jokes at any moment, and to also present real stories with a twist in a funny way to keep the audience entertained through all of it.

observation 10

My group did our news project on news magazines. I really think that this was one of the harder ones to do because we had the task of finding a topic to discuss that was relevant for people, but at the same time, relevant to a huge group of people instead of just an isolated group. We ended up choosing to do our project on a follow up of Hurricane Katrina. Although the hurricane only hit one part of the country, all would easily admit that it affected everyone. Hearing a story cover all of the recent news would pull a wide range of audience in. Another main point we tried to make clear was the kind of anchors that do this show. Anchors on this type of show are very professional, and usually very serious. Our anchor wore a suit and tie. A lot of times these anchors are older than those of the evening news. 

observation 9

The evening news video clip I thought was a great representation of what most evening new stories cover. When I was watching the evening news group present their video, I automatically compare and contrast it to the evening news program I have watch almost my whole life at home. These 2 news programs had far more similarities than differences. On the evening news all of the broadcasters are seemingly approachable and nice people. A lot of the time they are young. They are also energetic and make you want to listen to what they are going to say. The stories are local issues that pertain to all of the people that are listening. It's not as more stuff that people will flip the channel about because it doesn't seem to be an issue in their life. The same is true for all of the commercials. The commercials are things that would be appealing to the audience and most of the time about local things as well. 

observation 8

We spent a lot of time talking about how in "Thank You For Smoking" the main character's name is Nick Naylor. I don't think it's really a coincidence at all that they choose this particular name for the lobbyist for the Academy of Tobacco Studies. It's really interesting to think about how writers for movies choose names for their characters. I think that for the most part they try very hard to match up the vibe and the personality they are trying to have the character give off to the name they will give them. That is absolutely the case for the name "Nick Naylor" in this movie. The character is suppose to be slick, suave, good with words, and always on his toes. Which, I guess you'd have to be if you're always having to go against so much harsh criticism. Nick Naylor is a name that not only has alliteration, but also just rolls off of the tongue and comes out so easily. They did a great job finding a name to match up to how they wanted people to percieve Nick Naylor in the movie.

observation 7

The beginning part of "Thank You For Smoking" is put together so precisely. It uses all the different kinds of rhetoric to stage the stage for the whole movie. You already have a certain picture painted for all the characters. This is absolutley not by accident. You almost feel as if you already know what will happen as the movie goes on.

observation 6

There are so many issues that can easily be argued 2 (or more) ways. I think a really good example of that was the scandal that happened at Clemson last year where there was a party held where everyone was suppose to dress up as black people. I can honestly say that this is something that can easily be argued either way with sufficient evident. The people who held the party said that is was completely in good fun and there was absolutely no harm intended in any way. I can understand that and in some ways agree with it. The party was just a bunch of college students having a good time and it was nothing that was meant to be taken seriously to any extent at all. At the same time, there is a clear other side to this as well. Racism is a very sensitive issue for many people and with all the different themes to choose for a party, this probably should not of been one of them. I can understand how African Americans would be offended that people were coloring their body and doing other outrageous things like that. IT is not nice or respectful in any way that I can understand and relate to how that would be offensive. This was definitely a case where there are two strong counter-arguments and sometimes it is very difficult to really see which one is correct.

observation 5

The poem "Snow Man" by Wallace Stevens is a poem that at first glace appears to be about winter and in a sense the point of view of teh snowman that are around in winter. However, after reading it a few times, I felt like it had a much different meaning. I think that the point of the poem was to point out the positives of taking in life and slowing down and takin it all in. I think that the snowman was merely an example of that. The snowman is there every winter and in a sense it sees the exact same thing every winter, but it has learned to appreciate it. It is remarkable that a snow man can do that considering it can't walk around and take in different aspects of life. However people can. I really like that the poem was trying to prove a point to the reader. I think that Wallace Stevens wants us to step back and realize and appreciate life and everything that goes along with that. He is showing us that if a snowman can learn to like an appreciate stuff he sees 24 hours a day 7 days a week, it should never be a problem for us.

observation 4

Today in class we looked at the painting "the fall of icarus" by Bruegel. Once I was told the story about Icarus, it really had me confusing and thinking. It seemed like that since Icarus is the "main character" so to say in this sotry that he would be front and center in the painting. However, that is not the case at all. It is almost as if the artist wanted us to have to look for him. He is so tiny in the huge painting. He is also in the middle of the sea and you can only see his legs. In my opinion, there is a reason that the painting is like this. I think that Bruegel wanted us to look at the big picture. He didn't just want us to see Icarus. He wanted us to see the whole picture of what was going on, and not to focus on just one thing. When you think of it that way, it is a really good way to make sure that everyone has a better understanding. You will never really be able to understand a single event in history if you do not have a clear understanding of the big picture of what was going on and how life really was

observation 3

"I like my body when it is with yours" is a poem by e.e. cummings. The firs tthing I noticed about this poem is that it doesn't have a title. This is typical of e.e. cummings poetry, that he never names his poems. It had me wondering and thinking if maybe there was a particular reason or if he was going for a particular affect by not putting a title on it. The next thing I noticed was all of the off and awkward punctuation, repetition, and awkward spaces. After rereading it several times I realized that the poem is written this way for afffect. He is so repetitive in order to stress certain points.

oberservation 2

"To His Coy Mistress" is a love poem in sorts by Andrew Marvell. This is a poem that is familiar to me because I have discussed it in depth in high school. The speaker in the poem is talking to his mistress. However, it is not a typical love poem. It is not sweet, kind, or innocent like we think of a love poem. The speaker is trying to convince his mistress to hav esex with him. The speaker is quite graphic about what he wants to do. The speaker is also very graphic about why and the consequences. He is afraid that his mistress will be dead and buried by the time that they would have sex. The poem got me thinking that it was a very interesting way to go about trying to convince someone to have sex with you. And I really wasn't even too sure that I was following the logic of his argument. The poem was interesting to read and think about that someone really wrote this poem as a conversation between 2 lovers.

observation 1

Although I went to a very good high school, that I do believe helped prepare me for college, I have already begun to realize that it has left out important skills I need to succeed at Clemson. Last week, we started to go over poems and discuss them in depth. This was something that I was not really exposed to in high school. My school school English classes were focused mostly on reading and learning vocabulary for the SAT's. Discussing these poems forced me to critically think about these poems and form my own opinions. I started to realized that there are times in classes where there is not just one answer for something. Through all the discussion my class was able to think up a couple different explanations and analyzations for the poems. Doing activities like this in class gets me to thinking an having discusssions on what our opinions are can get people thinking and learning a lot more than usual.

Anti-Smoking Ad

I think that this ad is a great example of visual rhetoric for the smoking topic. The ad is basically geared toward smokers and it is saying that if you are wondering where all of the cigarettes you are smoking are going, they are going to your grave. It is implying that every cigarette you smoke goes adds to you dying. It is a very powerful message to look at your own grave and also be told that you are the one that caused it. 

Visual Rhetoric Example

This is an example I found online that I thought was a really good example of visual rhetoric. It is an ad trying to convince people to not drink and drive. This ad definitely is trying to get to the readers emotions, and in my opinion it does a really good job. When you see this ad the picture of the woman completely sticks out in your mind. What I really notice when I look at this woman is her expression on her face. She just looks so mad and so upset. I don't think that anyone could really look at this ad and ever consider drinking and driving again.