Visual Arguments Diversity

The most appealing visual argument on pages 903-908 was the 1st one on page 903. I liked how it made it look like a nutrition label. I can relate it to every day life. I thought it was very clever how they set up that poster. The least appealing of those posters was the 2nd on on page 904. It did not have much structure. It was kind of all over the place. It was hard to look at quickly and get the message.

On pages 917-921 the first cartoon describes the weight of race on whether or not you get accepted and how the supreme court in crucial in regulating the racial discrimination of colleges. The second cartoon shows how their is only one minority who is a supreme court justice and the rest are white, showing that if the supreme court decides whether or not race can be taken into account, it has a biased opinion by default. The third cartoon is going for affirmative action and is being sarcastic in saying "why does he get all the breaks" after showing the hardships he'd gone through to even get to the point of being considered for college. The fourth cartoon is showing how their are many other factors besides race that determine your acceptance into a university and its just easy to point the finger at affirmative action. The last cartoon shows how money helps set the course and even can be the determining factor in getting into a school. The most effective cartoon I think is the one with the supreme court justices because that is the top ruling possible on this issue and even a decision by the supreme court would be extremely biased by default.

Visual advertisement

The visual advertisement I chose to analyze is in a magazine called Transworld Surf. A brand called Fox is advertising their new board shorts called "Vamplifier". Answering some of the questions on pages 446-451...

- Fox Tech created this visual text. Transworld Surf distributed it.
- Fox is a clothing brand for many extreme sports like motor cross, dirt biking, BMX, surfing, etc.
- The creators attitude toward the image seems to be that their board shorts will allow you to surf freely, with no restriction in your legs. Allowing you to do a variety of complex moves on the surfboard, demonstrated by the picture of a surfer wearing the shorts doing a hard trick.
- The creator and the distributer intend its effects to be to surf more, get cool board shorts, and read this magazine for more surf news and pictures. Similar intentions.
- Media used for this visual text is images and words.
- The visual text assumes its viewers like board shorts that allow you to move freely while in the ocean. The shorts are described "Q4 quadstretch" I believe to explain the shorts are very stretchy which surfers agree is a good thing while surfing.
-  The cultural values the visual evokes are youth, adventure, freedom, sex appeal. It shows a young surfer Eric Geiselman doing a "rodeo flip" on the wave on his surfboard. This is a challenging trick which evokes adventure and youth. Surfing evokes freedom. And the boardshorts are supposed to be physically appealing which is sex appeal

Essay 4 Outline

Thesis: Lowering the drinking age in America from 21 to 18 will allow teenagers to become more responsible around alcohol being that they will be able to legally drink while typically still living in their parents households.

INTRO – The drinking age was set at 21 in 1984. “Raising the drinking age to 21 was passed with the very best of intentions, but it’s had the very worst of outcomes,” said David J. Hanson. THESIS. Transition into ¶ 1.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20249460/ns/health-addictions/

It is probable that it will take time to let the new drinking age settle down, but in the long-run, drinking will not be such an exciting thrill for teenagers.

-       Teens will be over excited in the beginning that they are allowed to drink.  But over a time period, learning about being a responsible drinker will be sure to come.

-       Parents will be sure to expose their children to alcohol in proper ways and let them learn about the effects. VS, kids drinking on their own, with little knowledge of the consequences, usually learning the hard way.

-       Alex Johnson, MSNBC Reporter- “The age restriction does not work, they say. Drinking has gone on behind closed doors and underground, where responsible adults cannot keep an eye on it.”  [ < elaborate ] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20249460/ns/health-addictions/

Can go to war, but cannot drink a beer argument.

-       18 year olds are going to fight in wars and battle for their countries, but

can’t drink a beer or two.

CONLUDE – In 1984, the new drinking age of 21 was a good idea. But overtime we have seen teens take drinking the wrong way. Drinking for the thrill of not being able to. They do not drink to have headaches the next morning. They think it is fun to abuse. Lowering the drinking age to 18 would prevent alcohol abuse and allow teenagers to learn to use it responsibly. 

Proposal Blog

As Michael Benson clearly explains in his article "Send It Somewhere Special", the International Space Station is not really doing anything. By anything, he and I mean, it is simply orbiting Earth wasting extreme amounts of money to support it. Similar to Benson's logic, I propose all nations interested in doing research through the ISS come together to afford a drive system to move it to Mars, since we have not yet been there, because it is truly expensive and we are not learning much from it. With many nations helping and working together, we can all learn about space and future living environments. This will also build international team work and unity. Like Benson said, it will not be too challenging for it is already in space and simply needs technical work. The future in space can be much more in sight if we can do this.

Evaluating the credibility of a source I’ve selected for third essay

I did some internet researching for racial profiling and saw some controversy over the meaning. A news website, mercurynews.com posted an article titled: San Jose police change definition of 'Racial Profiling'. A news website typically offers credible information so this is a useful source. The article was posted February 21, 2011 so it is current information. The article mentions there have been a number of racial profiling allegations in recent years. The subject is the department is broadening the definition of the term. The new perspective of racial profiling in San Jose appears to be "any biased behavior at any time during an encounter with the public". Originally is was a violation only if an officer stopped someone due to race, now is strictly any behavior.

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_17445138?nclick_check=1
Sean Webby 2/21/2011

topic for definitional essay

My topic for the next essay is Racial Profiling. It is one of the examples on the prompt sheet but I am interested in writing about that. I may change it in the near future though. It has an unclear meaning because it is not supposed to happen. People consider racial profiling a lot of different things in society today. When I think about racial profiling, I picture police using race as a reason to make for instance a traffic stop. It is wrong and I do not like it, as most people agree. I plan on researching it more to learn about it. It has a debatable meaning and I plan on exploring it more. Sorry this blog is late.

Topic for "Evaluative comparison of two texts" paper

For the second paper, Evaluative comparison of two texts, I have chosen a commercial and a song. The commercial is by Nike and shows Michael Jordan walking through a dark hallway and an entrance to some NBA room. As he walks, he is narrating, telling his failures in his career. But explains this is the reason he succeeds. It is a very motivational commercial. The song I have chosen to evaluate and compare with the commercial is Tom Petty – I Won’t Back Down. I find this to be a very inspirational and motivational song. I imagine the song helps people worldwide, whether it be finishing a road race, or getting through tough economic times. They both convey the similar message of never giving up and that failure is a stepping-stone to success. I am unsure which is more effective at the moment, but I will further analyze the two and decide. The link for the Nike commercial is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-EMOb3ATJ0 and the link for the Tom Petty song is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUTXb-ga1fo