TOW #17- Visual Text

TOW #17

This ad by Samsung was released in a promotional post on twitter about a week after the iPhone 6 was released. It clearly shows the iPhone 6 bowing down like a human to the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which is standing up straight. The quote says “Bend to those who are worthy”. This photo was published on social media (Twitter) which is where the bending of the iPhone 6 news was directed at. By attacking this direct audience with the ad, Samsung allows it to spread quickly threw an audience that understands. For example, I am not really into the latest and greatest technology but I knew exactly what this was referring too. Also the direct reference to the iPhone 6 from a competitor creates a comedic aspect as well as the bend reference. This refers to the iPhone 6 being easily bendable and inconvenient. This was the information that was spreading like wildfire through the Internet. It was smart of Samsung to tag along and attach their name to it. They play the words of bending. Instead of referring to this as bending like the phone actually is told to do, it’s bending like a human. Also, the simple background makes for a direct advertisement with not too much going on. The purpose of this ad is to obviously indirectly say that the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is much better then the iPhone 6. So much so that the iPhone 6 actually bows down to it.

TOW #16- (IRB) Bossypants

Most think of Tina Fey as a comedic actor who appears in SNL, 30 Rock, and Mean Girls. Most people, however, do not know that a majority of Fey’s hilarious jokes are from her talent of writing. In her book Bossypants, Fey uses her gift of comedic writing to convey a humorous tone in order to explain her life leading up to becoming the stable writer and actor she is today. She uses a mash-up of personal anecdotes and looks at them through a comedic lens in order to make the issue at hand not as serious as it once was.  For example, after graduating college Fey struggled to find a job. She explains an interview with a local small theatre for the job of a box manager. She says “We talked (meaning she talked) about playwrights we (she) liked. It was between me and another girl for the job… I tried a joke, ‘I like to think of myself as the most beautiful woman in the world. But where will that get either of us, really?’ The other girl got the job” (68). She turns a simple story about interviewing for a job with her comedic recounting of the tail. Also, in many instances Fey points out her own literary techniques. For example in this hilarious quote discussing her resemblance to Sarah Palin she states, “Lorne and I discussed the overwhelming public opinion (hyperbole) that I should play Governor Palin," (202). She put hyperbole in parenthesis herself to use slight sarcasm to show that no, not everything thought she looked so similar to Palin. This is another normal sentence she turns comedic through her hilarious tone. I could use almost every sentence in the book as an example of Fey’s comedy. It is jam packed on every page with comedic comments and stories. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

TOW #15- Fox says Dish is ‘censoring’ the news as blackout drags on (Article)

Fox News is by far the most watched news channel with more than double the viewers then CNN and MSNBC. If they bring in the most viewers, what would have to go down for Dish to stop showing it? According to the CNN article by Brian Stelter, it was a dispute on per-subscriber fees and possibly digital distribution rights. This article uses implied ethos and photo/video evidence. It is stated that CNN is directly related in the conflict at hand, giving the website of the article (CNN.com) an obvious up hand. If anyone were to know what was going on and to be held credibly it would we the direct source. CNN and other Turner Broadcasting channels were blacked out for a month in November, showing they are directly related in the conflict with Dish. Another way this article gets across its point is through photo/video advertisements. They link and discuss video advertisements by Fox showing they’re urge for viewers to switch from Dish in order to watch their channel because of the dispute. They use not only video/television advertisements but also online advertisements on their website claiming that Dish is “censoring news” because of the cut off channel. The article shows no obvious bias, but one can assume it is for Fox due to their history with Dish. The purpose of the article was to inform viewers of the conflict at hand and the true reasoning. It wasn’t so much to persuade, as there was no true bias to the article.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/11/media/fox-news-dish-blackout-censoring/index.html

TOW #14- Me Talk Pretty One Day (essay)

The worst situation I can imagine is being harshly judged for not understanding what someone is saying. This is exactly what David Sedaris had to go through in his short essay Me Talk Pretty One Day. At 41 years old Sedaris went to school in France in hopes of learning the language. He was timid because all of the students were under 25 and amazing at French. Just to make things worse, he was thrown into a class with a professor who had mistaken her job for making the students lives a living hell. Almost every day the students were scolded for their mistakes, in French, which Sedaris understood in bits and pieces. He successfully uses exaggeration and pathos to convey a comedic tone to his essay. This comedic tone contributes to his purpose, which is simply that something good comes out of everything. Exaggeration is used discretely. At first, I thought this was serious but then realized it was for comedic purposes. For example, the students did not really have to worry about the teacher punching anyone, or throwing chalk. Also, I highly doubt the teacher actually “masterminding a program of genocide,” but the hyperbolized claim makes the situation comedic. These claims contribute to the fear and unpredictability of the class. Also, Sedaris pokes fun at not only the students, but also himself. He described how he himself felt “not unlike Pa Kettle trapped backstage after a fashion show.” The fact that he can make fun of himself adds humor to the essay. It comes across as witty but not pretentious, clever but not conceited. It adds a feeling of trust for the author’s humor not to be too rude. Overall, this essays meaning came through clear and concise using humor in exaggeration and pathos.

TOW #13- The Body Shop, Meet Alex

            Many people think that sexism has gone distinct, however, that is not the case. Some people’s brains are hard-wired to think of things in a sexist way. Surprisingly, common beliefs like men not being able to hit girls is still a form of being sexist. This ad by the Body Shop mainly targets sexism against women. It shows a young boy showing his muscles and a girl laughing along side him. The words say, “Meet Alex- future sport star, prime minister, inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist… (shown here with her brother Chris).” The point is that when reading the text and looking at the picture you are suppose to believe that it is referring to the boy. However, when you read what is in the parentheses it is clarified that the text is talking about the girl. The Body Shop uses the text and the photograph to convey a message of stereotypes in humans brains that they cannot help. The text shows Alex, a common boy but also girls name, along with many jobs. The jobs are suppose to lead you to believe it is referring to the male, however it proves that not only men can do these jobs and be advertised and successful. When the viewer reads the text in parentheses it leaves them with either a guilty and heart warmed feeling. Also, the image shows the boy showing his muscles up, hence boys are always stronger which is another misconception, and the girl laughing by his side. I think the boy is in the limelight of the photo, which is why most people just look assumes it is him. To make the ad better both children should have an equal space on the screen. Overall, the message of stereotypes and sexism is simple yet strong in this advertisement.

TOW #12 Bossypants (IRB)

Never before did I think it was possible to genuinely laugh out loud at a book. I thought that words in the form of a book were not capable of striking me as funny. However, reading Bossypants by Tina Fey completely changed my mind. My sense of humor is more on the sarcastic side. Cliché jokes are more of an annoyance to me than an enjoyment. It’s not only the humor that caught me in this book but also the skill of her rhetoric. She weaves in meaning through all of her anecdotes and illustration. All of chapters have a reoccurring theme of feminism, which plays into Feys overall purpose. Her purpose was to show women that they are beautiful even if they are not like the girls in Hollywood. She does this by making the reader have a humorous attitude towards her own life and weaving in light-hearted stories with lessons. Fey creates a humorous story through anecdotes and an informal tone. The whole book is bursting with Fey’s personal experiences. From someone stealing her boyfriend to stealing her job, she is more then willing to laugh at herself, which makes the read ten times more enjoyable. For example, in the middle of a story about her wishes for her daughter she says that you could “be able to pick me out of a sea of highlighted blonde women with fake tans because I’m the one with the thick ponytail and the greenish undertones in my skin” (Fey 23). She also has an apparent informal tone. it gave the feeling that she was there with you and that she is one of your friends. The specific diction as well as the overall picture of the stories she includes creates an intimate setting between Fey and her audience. Every line of this story is comedic gold and I read it with a broad smile across my face. Not only did I learn to think of myself as beautiful but also important life lessons. For example, whoever has the best your mama joke wins. It is a fair and easy way to settle an argument.