It'll Blow Your Mind Away...

     A blonde white woman with perfect complexion and cherry red lips stares ahead, mouth ajar and eyebrows heightened. A seven inch slab of “something long” and “juicy (Image)” lingers close to her mouth. The slogan, “It'll Blow Your Mind Away (Image)”, is printed in bold beneath. What I'm describing is not an advertisement for a distributor of pornography, but an ad for one of the most popular fast food restaurants in the world, Burger King. An ad that was blasted by nearly everyone, going under scrutiny on June 24^th, 2009. “Just when you thought the vulgarization of culture that is now worldwide due to the unifying influence of cable, the Internet and You Tube can’t get any more vulgar, Burger King proves you wrong with news of its new advertising campaign for its “Super Seven Incher Sandwich” that’s fun for journalists to report on, will get lots of buzz but would hurt the company if it was unveiled even five years ago (Gandelman).” If this kind of thing isn't acceptable in today's world, why does it exist? Who's to blame for an unpopular ad campaign hitting both the public and the reputation of BK?

     Could it have been the times? It was 2008, the recession hit, and Burger King's ad campaign had just surpassed Wendy's, but wasn't nearly as close to McDonalds as execs had hoped for (Mullman). Just a couple days before the outrage, Jeremy Mullman of Ad Age vividly described the state of affairs between Crispin Porter and BK, their ad runner at the time. “There was no shortage of material. In five years, Crispin's creativity had energized a once-moribund brand with memorable, often groundbreaking work that helped BK recapture the No. 2 spot among burger chains briefly ceded to Wendy's (Mullman).” But times had hit Burger King much harder than McDonalds. “Eyeing higher profit margins, BK focused its marketing guns on more expensive items targeted to so-called super fans, young men who theoretically care more about how "Meat'Normous" a burger is than how much it costs and who tend to be the most vociferous fast-food consumers. A smart strategy -- until BK got caught flat-footed by a recession that played to McDonald's sweet spot: the value proposition it clearly owned and had honed over decades (Mullman).” You could say that BK was desperate for an ad that caught the public once more, so Porter came up with a ludicrous poster. Except in the days following the criticisms, Burger King had stated that “It was produced by a locally-based Singapore agency and not by BKC's U.S. advertising agency of record, Crispin Porter and Bogusky (Gandelman).” All of this blame was shifted from the close relationship between BK and Porter, who just a year ago the event celebrated their “...surprise fifth-anniversary party at Miami's Globe restaurant last June thrown by Crispin Porter & Bogusky, Burger King Chief Marketing Officer Russ Klein (Mullman),” to an unnamed advertising agency in Singapore. By the time of the statement, people already had some fingers pointed. One of them was at the model herself.

     A YouTuber named RV Wonderspunk has decided to start trending certain phrases around the internet, beginning August 5^th, 2014. Two of them were “#FaceRape” and “#BoyCottBK” (“Burger King”). She is the model who became the icon of advertising scandal in 2009, and her video has been watched over 340,000 times (“Burger King”). She elaborates on her snappy-cut video in the description on what happened to her. “Burger King found my photo online from a series I did of various facial expressions and contortion poses, and with no due regard to me as a person, profited off reducing me to an orifice for their penis sludge; publicly humiliating me in the process... Now due to the coverage its received (Time Magazine's Top Ten Tasteless Ads, Business Insider, Buzzfeed, Gawker, Psychology Today to name a few) it's part of the public domain. Just recently it was the topic of discussion in a media studies class of 500 students at the University of Toronto - where I live... and posted to the class Facebook discussion page... There is something VERY wrong with the fact that they felt entitled to do that to my face without signing a contract with me (“Burger King”).” This video followed up with a response from Burger King, stating that “Respect for customers and employees is a top priority at Burger King restaurants around the world... This ad was not released in any other markets (Sanghani).” She appears to be more victimized than anybody in this situation.

     So who's at fault? How did an ad like this come out to shock the liberal community in the summer of 2009? The answer is, 'who cares?' Honestly, it seems like nobody cares that much to take action against the advertising firm in Singapore, blame the model for posing in sensual positions, or fight BK about the carelessness they took with their ads across seas. Even if there is a clear culprit, still roaming free five years from then, would anyone actually go out of their way to prevent another awkward and creepy ad from surfacing online? People like to act liberal and feminist online, citing fair treatment for everyone, but hardly anyone of us is truly unbiased to each other. Could it be that it's trendy to be nice? Could it be that it's fun to rile people up? Could it be that BK wanted this scandal for people to focus on how they'll become a more caring and socially acceptable company? Whatever answer you choose, act like you give a damn about it. I don't mean paste it on your Facebook as “things you dislike,” really do something about it. Try to fix the world around you because you're a part of it. You could write to your representatives, begin a campaign, accept this poster as freedom of speech-- just start participating and stop pointing your cameras at everything awful, wishing somebody would do something.

References

Sanghani, Radhika. "'Burger King Raped My Face', Claims Model on Angry YouTube Video." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 7 Aug. 2014. Web. 8 Dec. 2014. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11018413/Burger-King-raped-my-face-claims-model-on-angry-YouTube-video.html>.

Gandelman, Joe. "Burger King’s New Ad: A New Low In Vulgar Ads Aimed At Young Customers (UPDATED)." The Moderate Voice. 24 June 2009. Web. 8 Dec. 2014. <http://themoderatevoice.com/36686/burger-kings-new-ad-a-new-low-in-vulgar-ads-aimed-at-young-customers/>.

Image, <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYq0H3tzX50YcKRU7_hr8IIzgP_BJOr1FMs-_mJvhPlOQDVYZ4VvJrMHoZ99pT76h3WRuZxg3YgT55cz4YmfQoCHUSLgG_QWjxENodWicQUpCBNXIivuf-3ia_F8LaohJgPgL5PdrUZ-o/s1600-h/Burger+King+Singapore+Bonvests+BK+Super+Seven+Incher+Sandwich.png>

Mullman, Jeremy. "Fast Food: Crispin's BK Work Doesn't Help Gain On McD's." Advertising Age News RSS. 22 June 2009. Web. 8 Dec. 2014. <http://adage.com/article/news/fast-food-crispin-s-bk-work-gain-mcd-s/137472/>.

"Burger King Digitally-Raped My Face." YouTube. YouTube, 5 Aug. 2014. Web. 8 Dec. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7pnGJHGn-M>.

Page 181 Answers

1.) Melissa Rubin offers insight on the cultural background of the Coca-Cola ad provided, based on it's themes, visuals, and message. She provides several sources to her claims, ranging from the context of a quote from the text to what other's perceptions agree on. I can agree with her claims, but I have my own reasons as well. Sociology has taught me much about the ways the media both brings in and puts out culture.

2.) She incorporates historical context through blunt statements, i.e. "This ad from the August 1950 Coca-Cola Bottler magazine..." and through relevancy to her statements, i.e. "... Just a few years after World War II and at the beginning of the Korean War, the setting clearly reflects the idea that Americans experienced increased industrialization and urbanization as a result of World War II." The information contributes to her analysis by involving other topics which share themes and opinions that her article might share.

3.) What political stance can be taken from the image's themes? How topical were the ad's willing to be back then? Could the people creating the ad be seen as "playing it safe" or bigoted?

4.) An ad campaign of recent memory, belonging to Carl's Jr., relies heavily on sexualizing women. The values of this ad campaign, and any individual ad of their's, reveals a lack of consideration for women to be more than objects to improve the image of their burgers. The woman share identical body traits of today's American understanding of beauty, a standard of these ads and possibly the people watching them. The Carl Jr. ads and the 1950 ad from Coca-Cola show a lack of liberal respect for the people portrayed or missing from the images.

Moonshoes Analysis

From late 1980 to early 2000's, Moon Shoe ads have been presenting kids with another toy, specifically made for foot wear, that deliver the astronaut vibe straight to elementary school children. The toys are colorful, the ads show everyone bouncing around, and the music is there to oomph up the fun on screen.

I guarantee that any owner of these toys, whoever's brave enough to admit they owned them, will tell you how awful the device turned out to be. Anybody in their twenties or thirties may have tried a pair and hopped right out of them after harming themselves, damaging property, or being unable to jump higher than without the Moon Shoes on. Why did kids buy into this in the first place?

The same reason why kids buy any other toy or product, good advertising. These overpriced pads with springs popped onto TV with such ferocity and passion that no kid without curiosity wouldn't at least annoy their parents to the toy-isle. It didn't matter what they said, no matter how advised it may be, the shoes looked awesome on screen.

If you watch ad's aimed for children, you'll spot a pattern that marketers have in place. Fast cuts, fun music, and interesting people. Moon Shoes follows this formula with a rock-pop song, lyrics that advise but not essentially matter to why the kids should buy them, and visuals that engage even the most inattentive of children. An article by Melissa Dittman from the American Psychological Association, titled Protecting Children from Advertising, discusses the effects of children introduced to ads. While interviewing Dale Kunkel, professor of communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Dittman and him discussed what effects ads have on children.

"That lack of adult interpretation is a concern because young children tend to accept ads as fair, accurate, balanced and truthful, Kunkel says. "They don't see the exaggeration or the bias that underlies the claims," he says. "To young children, advertising is just as credible as Dan Rather reading the evening news is to an adult.""

If there's anything to take away from Moon Shoes, it's that ad's, as clear as day to be fake to us, may be another part of reality to children. When the child sang, "Man these shoes defy gravity," it sounds like she really means it. Kids eat this stuff up, just as marketing has eaten up everything in the folds of the parent's wallets.

Notes on Moon Shoes Commercial

Here's how we get the gravity shoes: Moon Shoes!
Jumpin' up and down like a kangaroo! Moon Shoes!
Going ahead honey I really fly, me and friends jumping really high.
Man these shoes defy gravity, gotta get those shoes it's a necessity!
Moon Shoes!

________________________________________________________

* Every kid is wearing moon shoes in this commercial

* People have fun watching others use moon shoes

* Kids using moon shoes with ease

* Girl jump roping with moon shoes laughs and points at the camera, involving the audience

* Commercial is similar to various other kid toy commercials attempting to assimilate children into toy culture.

* One of the lyrics state that getting the shoes is a necessity.

* Also states that shoes defy gravity, obviously don't.

Page 175; Answers 1-4

1.) Heather Havrilesky's insight on Mad Men is that it, "...resonates so clearly at this point in history." She goes on to describe this opinion upon the hit AMC show by elaborating on its' characters and their metaphorical existences to the idea of the American Dream. "While Mad Men's detractors often decry the empty sheen of it all, claiming that it has no soul, clearly that's the point. The American dream itself is a carefully packaged, soulless affair."

2.) She asserts her authority from the entirety of the Mad Men reference. She cites the scenes she talks about, has a well grounded sound about what she's talking about, and speaks of the 'recent' premier of the show. She's as up to date as any viewer could be, giving her the authority over other's unaware or ill-informed of the show.

3.) She talks about the desperation of Americans, or people striving for the American life style, and relates it to the reality of our lives. "Instead of staying connected to the divine beauty and grace of everyday existence -- the glimmer of sunshine on the grass, the blessing of a cool breeze on a summer day -- we're instructed to hope for much more." She brings in idols of many ages such as, "Snow White, Pokémon, Ronald McDonald, Lady Gaga..." and presents their cases to us in a way that reveals the absurdity of everyone sharing the same social status.

4.) Well, I wanted to watch the show before. Now I know something awful happens with a lawn mower, so I'll cringe any time that's on the screen when I binge watch the entire series. From what I know, it sounds like she's talking about the show I've seen on ad's or from interviews.

Summary of 141-159

The selection of pages 141 to 159 cover the different ways to tackle an analysis paper and what mediums will complement what formalities of writing such a paper. It covers the casual, formal, viral, physical formulas and oddities that come with creating an analysis paper for the specific audience the author chooses to address. A graph has to be complemented by the following text, explaining its purpose and defining the figures. Graphics attached to the paper have to correlate to the topic and the surrounding text. Not only are non-narrative figures covered, but sources are valued variably through different levels of formalities. If a formal paper is reviewed by an academic crowd, it’s near impossible to have your position be heard without credible sources and statistics. If merely blogging or talking to someone you’re comfortable around, you’ll not be as hard pressed to present your sources. The selection covers five characteristic features commonly featured in analysis papers: “A question that prompts you to take a closer look,” “Some description of the subject you are analyzing,” “Evidence drawn from close examination of the subject,” “Insight gained from your analysis,” and “Clear, precise language.” These categories are covered as the text runs through various examples of analysis papers in different mediums.

Analysis on Life and Media

Today, I chose to eat a bowl of cereal with milk. Because of that choice, I've left home with enough food to choke out hunger pains for a few hours. This week, I chose to wait to do laundry. Because of that choice, there's a stockpile of dirty clothes in my hamper. This month, I chose to wait until the 30th to revisit a screenplay I've finished. Because of this, the screenplay will feel slightly alien and allow me to criticize it better. This year, I chose to go to a community college. Because of this, I have more time to anticipate my future career and take the correct steps with a college level education. What all of this information displays is a strong restraint on both motivation and self-confidence, or that I'm lazy in different ways.

In comparison of the Lenovo and Asus websites for laptops, I've decided that Lenovo offers a better display of products. The images are laid out in stylish and neat manners, the devices' specifications are easier to find than Asus's, and it offers various products that work better in their select fields. Asus could have a better marketplace than Lenovo by providing more information about their laptops and streamlining the shopping process.

Composing Paper #1 and Paper #2

Difference in formats and subject were jarring, to be blunt. Paper #1 was a narrative, a short story with a message at the end, whereas Paper #2 was a research paper, discussing a subject, my position, and a call for action. The first was a study on farts, where the second was a study on the death penalty. I can whip out a paper like nobody’s business, but I enjoy creating narratives much more than debating topics in reality. There’s no real way to question the story I present, nothing to fact check or research besides my other works or myself, depending on how well you know me to start with. In a research essay, there’s everything that can go wrong when presented to an audience. Someone may have evidence refuting your points, have a great lead, first-hand experience, or maybe smarter than you. Narratives are fun to compose because there’s no formulaic way to compose them. If you want to look broadly, you can see a rough line of where to head, but each story is presented differently. Individuals live separate lives, learn different ways of writing, structuring sentences, describing scenery. In a research essay, Paper #2, there’s a pretty obvious composition formula required for presentation. You can use fancy hooks or attempt to flip the reader on their heads, check if they’re reading or skimming, but you always need to format your paragraphs in the same way. You can only make your research so entertaining before you hit the walls cemented in MLA papers, then it’s up to the reader to keep going or not.

Scribe 11/4

In response to the first question, whether we were convinced by Spriggs and how she established the importance of her topic, it was resoundingly negative. Several of us agree upon buying local, but it wasn't nearly as Hollywood she was making it. Some of her sources were literally just CNN, generally CNN, i.e. she watched an interview and nodded along. Her omnipresence of buying local was pretentious and off putting to just about everyone. For the second question, she gave an awful counterargument that took all of us out of the essay she had presented. Child labor in Bangladesh isn't a negative, loosely attached global economics isn't a rebuttal, and her idea of grounding local food markets as global empowerment was extreme and under informed. We've noticed a pattern, more of a theme for question three, that she lacked real background information to give the "facts" credibility. On question four, she uses photos, nearly all from "IStockPhoto", to visualize her points and give the reader some form of perception upon the topics she's subscribing.

Scribe from 10/30

Herbert
gave explicit position
gave evidence but gave it with generalizations, not good
big emphasis on authoritative tone
clear indication  of why topic matters- you can't advance in jobs without a college degree
didn't give more than one point of view
his tone was subjective to his point of view
he does appeal to readers values, but only if you value education


Evergreen
no explicit position besides you should watch the documentary and the 502 initiative is an important vote
did a good job of giving more than one point of view
a lot of manipulation in the trailer
gave no authoritative tone

Positional Paper Draft

Christopher Bryan

11/02/2014

English Composition 101

Abolishing the Death Penalty in Washington State

Since 1849, 110 convictions were carried out in the Death Penalty, and nine are currently waiting on death row (“Offenders”), despite Governor Jay Inslee refusing to sign any death warrants while in office (Jenkins). “If a death penalty case comes to my desk for action, I will issue a reprieve... The use of the death penalty in this state is unequally applied, sometimes dependent on the size of the counties budget involved where the crime occurred (Jenkins).” Even though his actions have deterred the final procedures sentenced to inmates on death row, a future governor still has the ability to reverse the reprieve and continue the procedure. For some relatives of victims, this may be a blow to their anticipated closure. Frank Holden's 12-year-old daughter was murdered, causing him grief for over twenty years. “I think his decision has prolonged my agony, not shortened it,” he responds to Austin Jenkins, “It's opened a lot of wounds.” For the Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, this is a strong start to ridding the state legislation of future Death Penalties. In response to Inslee's statement on the Death Penalty, they've digitally stated, “Please take a moment to thank the governor for stopping executions on his watch (“Say”)!” Even with begrudged relatives and fierce emotions surging for the Death Penalty to march on, I must plead with the abolishers and ask for this old-fashioned resolve to end in the 21^st century, a time far too late for it's departure. It's not only morally unsound, but it's financially erroneous in comparison with life imprisonment and valueless in deterring crimes.

For the murders of forty-eight women, Gary Ridgway was sentenced to 48 life sentences in 2003, which was stacked to 49 after the remains of another missing person was discovered seven years later (Sullivan, 2011). He is currently incarcerated in Walla Walla, Washington, Washington State Penitentiary (“Find”). Now it isn't hard to find various hangings, followed by few lethal injections for 1^st degree murder cases, throughout the 20^th century. Wouldn't 48 aggravated murders lead to 48 Death Sentences? In some counties, it doesn't matter whether the case can be sentenced with the Death Penalty or not, because, “If we had a death penalty case, and had to pay $1 million (in legal costs), we’d go bankrupt (Martin).” According to Jim Jones, the administrator for Clallam County, including several others, that perusing the death penalty can cause an entire county to spiral into financial despair, so some cases may be passed the Death Penalty while others have the budget to use it. A quote from the article Jonathan Martin wrote on the Seattle Times, “Jones would know about these extraordinary costs: Clallam County spent $1 million in 2013 on the retrial of death-row inmate Darold Stenson, who was first sent to death row in 1994. It was enough to cause a “budget emergency” for the county’s court budget, according to the Peninsula Daily News. The county during this time was so strapped it cut staff by more than 15 percent, with annual $1 million budget shortfalls.” There's not only a lack of consistent moral application of the Death Penalty, but a financial blunder involved with each case.

The cost of the trials itself, just to get sentenced for the Death Penalty, is roughly $470,000 (“Final”). This does not include additional costs, such as court personnel, appellate defenses, and personal restraints, which stacks up the price another 250K. In the USA, between 1982 and 1997, the cost of capital trials was $1.6 Billion (Baicker). Two cases still in progress in King County have already spent nearly $7 million in investigation and preparation, before any trial, sentencing, or mandatory appeals have been made (Sullivan, 2013). If the Death Penalty was ended in Washington state, we'd save $2 million each year in prosecution, defense, and expert witness cases. That's money to fund highways, education, police and fire departments.

“It seems that in the end, however, it is the only fair way to deal with certain criminals past the point of moral reason. It is truly the only way to show that in this country, murder and terrorism will not be tolerated (Gary).” Now, lets look past American-eccentric ego and out to the global community. 140 countries have abolished the Death Penalty, many of them being our allies and members of the United Nations (“The Death”). Fellow members of the permitted Death Penalty club include Afghanistan, North Korea, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and us, specifically the United States. There is a different way of resolving crimes and not tolerated terrorism without sentencing human beings to death, life imprisonment without parole. Nobody gets out of it, unless proven innocent with credible evidence, and this isn't the movies, where jailbreaks and bombings coincide within a one and a half hour time span; this is reality. We live in a society that still permits a fading image of justice, because rationality is left-handed and vengeance is our strong suit. In Washington, we can continue to influence other states by abolishing the death sentence and ridding the US of further barbaric practices.

Citations

"Offenders Sentenced to the Death Penalty." Offenders Currently Under Sentence of Death. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.

Jenkins, Austin. "Washington Governor Won't Sign Death Warrants." NW News Network. 11 Feb. 2014. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.

"Say ‘Thank You!’ to Governor Inslee." Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. 19 Feb. 2014. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.

Sullivan, Jennifer. "Attorney: Ridgway Likely to Plead Guilty to New Murder Charge." The Seattle Times. 7 Feb. 2011. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.

"Find An Offender - Ridgway, Gary L.". Washington State Department of Corrections. 4 Nov. 2014.

Martin, Jonathan. "How the Death Penalty Can Bankrupt a County." The Seattle Times. 18 Feb. 2014. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.

“Final Report of the Death Penalty Subcommittee of the Committee on Public Defense.” (2006, December 1). Retrieved November 4, 2014.

Baicker, Katherine. "The Budgetary Repercussions of Capital Convictions." NBER. 1 July 2001. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.

"Multiple Agency Fiscal Note Summary." 5 Mar. 2013. Web. 4 Nov. 2014. <https://fortress.wa.gov/binaryDisplay.aspx?package=34902>.

Sullivan, Jennifer, "Legal costs near $7 million for defendants in 2007 Carnation slayings," The Seattle Times, September 26, 2013.

Gary, Jordan. "The Death Penalty Should Not Be Abolished | Neon Tommy." The Death Penalty Should Not Be Abolished | Neon Tommy. 1 May 2013. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.

"The Death Penalty Worldwide." Infoplease. Infoplease. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.

Outline of Positional Paper

The topic: Washington State Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty organization's goal to dismantle the death penalty in Washington.

Position: I agree with their position to abolish the death penalty in Washington.

Reasons: It's morally unsound to kill others when they no longer pose a threat to society
                It's financially erroneous to go through the legalization of the death penalty when life imprisonment has proven to be a better solution.
                It's valueless in deterring crimes.

Buying Locally

1.) She hasn't convinced me that it matters, but I can see where she comes from. She used statistics from various sources linking global dilemmas with agriculture. Issues such as pollution, fuel depletion, and the farming market can be resolved by choosing to produce food locally. Transportation will be cut down and more organic and natural methods of farming can be practiced.

2.) She considers the child labor in third world countries being depleted by buying locally, even going to lengths to show how certain boycotts in internationally manufactured clothing affected third world labor, but refutes that by showing how the U.S. can set an example for the global community in acting environmentally sound.

3.) On Page 98, she fails to see the information on the page as possibly horrific; or troubling in the least. Acknowledging opposing arguments, she states how 50,000 children in Bangladesh lost their sweat-shop jobs due to a boycott in the U.S. I feel that Katherine Springs could of examined this disorganized morality and used it as not only attention to more than one point of view, but a stronger stance on the issue of buying locally and a greater indication of why the topic matters.

4.) The photos included in the essay help the reader visualize the text without while minimizing a biased statement based on the images. For how they're involved, they work with Springs by giving definition to her argument.

100 Word Summary

Herbert’s argument concentrates upon the current education system of the 21st century. He regards the flawed nature by scores of our current students among the global community and how colleagues around him reflect and debate on improving the current state of the system. The actions that Herbert finds best are to improve the quality of teachers entering and working inside their field, and improving public schools based on alternative methods of private and charter schools. He feels that the state of education fits to post-World War II needs, a 20th century society, rather than the post-9/11 society that exists today.

Evergreen Trailer

The trailer uses normal aspects of any blockbuster to garner interest about the subject matter. Visual and audio elements are amplified in nature, fast cuts of protests and drugs, thrilling music and emotional speeches; the ABC's of trailers can be found here.

Thinking About the Text: Page 91

1.) Bob Herbert argues that American schools have ill-prepared kids to the modern world. He cites first hand, text, and interview evidence that provides support to his position. A teenager doesn't know his vice president, a four year college degree is mandatory for ~$50K salary, and a colleague of his discusses possible solutions to raising educational output.

2.) His tone can't be placed in one word. It's a bit like, "We should expect better," an acute form of disappointment. This can be felt in the very first lines of text.
 "I asked a high school kid walking along Commonwealth Avenue if he knew who the vice president of the      United States was.
 He thought for a moment and then said, "No."
 I told him to take a guess."

3.) In my perspective, he establishes the grave nature of education by stating how "A four-year college degree is now all but mandatory for building and sustaining a middle-class standard of living in the U.S."

4.) Here are two selections from the text which appeal directly to the reader's values.
 "The U.S. has not yet faced up to the fact that it needs a school system capable of fufilling the educational  needs of children growing up in an era that will be at least as different from the 20th century as the 20th  century was from the 19th."
 "They need something better than a post-World War II system in a post-9/11 world."

5.) I completely agree with this essay, the evidence is seen everywhere and felt by 99 percent of the American population. Outsourcing, layovers, and the ranks in math, science, and English among the global community is stunning in the broadest of perspectives. We depend on these children to continue a legacy of outstanding achievements in this nation, and we cannot reach this ideal by just shrugging off C-'s. One thing that has been missing from the conversation in public is better teachers via teaching ethics, not scores or reports. I loathed Spanish, despite it being easy, and loved Honors Physics, despite it being hard, due to who was teaching—regardless of subject matter.

Gun Extremists Position Article

Article: http://www.salon.com/2014/10/27/gun_extremists_ghastly_new_low_a_fight_over_open_carry_turns_vulgar_and_scary/

If you want to understand the fight the gun safety movement faces in trying to win over gun extremists in red states, my experience this summer will be instructive.[T1]


Moms Demand Action, a group formed after the Sandy Hook shooting to crack down on gun violence, began pressuring the Kroger supermarket chain to prohibit “open carry” in its stores after gun extremists used Kroger stores to demonstrate their “rights.” [T2] Gun laws are lax in many states, and it can be legal to openly carry a firearm with no training, and, in some cases, no background checks.[T3] The Kroger campaign is the most recent in a string of corporate responsibility efforts in which mothers, flanked by other gun violence prevention advocates, have asked companies to tighten gun policies, arguing that the businesses have an obligation to keep their customers safe.[T4]


Of course, gun extremists did not respond kindly to the Kroger campaign. What follows is a recounting of their disturbing tactics, from the shocking intimidation and harassment of unsuspecting commenters on Kroger’s Facebook page to right-wing media propaganda that disingenuously portrayed Kroger as being allies of the gun extremists.[T5]


Secret Facebook groups such as “People Who Were Blocked by Moms Demand Action Demand Action Now” — which has well over a thousand members — disseminated gun rights propaganda and helped orchestrate attacks on individuals commenting on Kroger’s page. Some gun nuts combed the profile pages of people commenting in support of gun reform, harvested personal photos of them and Photoshopped them to include obscene or humiliating comments, before reposting the photos on Kroger’s page, or on other social media sites.[T6] Because Kroger frequently bans users who post that kind of content, the gun extremists created disposable fake accounts — sometimes using the name and profile photo of an opponent— to quickly dump posts without being held accountable.


In one case, they found a photo of a woman’s preschool-age child and wrote on it, “My mom sucks more cock than Richard Simmons” and circulated it online. In another case, they grabbed a photo of a mother and her child and wrote “Big retard, little retard” on it before reposting it. One woman posted to Kroger a photograph of a receipt showing money she spent elsewhere, and gun extremists swarmed her post, with hundreds of responses, including comments like “what you could do is shut your god damned whore mouth,” “calm your tits,” and “fuck her right in the pussy,” which Kroger’s Facebook admin allowed to stand over a day later.


Some of the gun extremists’ targets regularly do battle with them online; others never expected such a response when they posted a message to Kroger and are alarmed and intimidated. One woman who was the target of a Photoshopped image told me that she considered shutting down her Facebook account over the reaction to her post on Kroger’s page.[T7] The gun extremists’ goal seems to be to mob individuals until they are scared into silence, and in some cases it is working.[T8]


The dirty tactics don’t stop at the street level. Recently the right-wing blog site BuzzPo featured a post by Eric Reed, founder of Gun Rights Across America. Reed’s post claimed that CJ Grisham, head of Open Carry Texas, had met with Kroger executives for a “lengthy conversation” about their policy on guns at their stores. Reed links to a petition he said Grisham created after meeting with Kroger executives, “a way for Americans to support Kroger in their decision, to help them stand their ground.” If you sign the petition, Reed says, you can knock Moms Demand Action back “into their little liberal utopia where they can chase leprechauns and ride unicorns all day long” and “Kroger will appreciate your support as well.” Members of Moms Demand Action, including founder Shannon Watts, caught wind of Reed’s story and took to Twitter about it, claiming Kroger should meet with them, too.


Except it’s not clear that the meeting the gun nuts claim happened actually ever did. Kroger adamantly denied it, as did the one member of Open Carry Texas who spoke to Kroger executives. Reed’s source for this post was a Facebook exchange between Grisham and himself in a closed gun group, in which Grisham named a Kroger executive who he says suggested this counter-petition to Open Carry Texas. However, the Kroger executive named by Grisham told me he didn’t know who Grisham was, and that while he had received a phone call from the head of Houston’s branch of Open Carry Texas, he never encouraged OCT in any way or suggested any course of action to them.


The head of the Houston chapter of Open Carry Texas, David Amad, also vigorously denied that Kroger had suggested the petition and maintained that the Kroger executive was completely neutral in their brief phone call. In fact, he said, that was the whole point as far as he was concerned: He doesn’t believe that anyone should be asking businesses to take sides in the gun debate.


Never mind the fact that several days before our conversation, Open Carry Texas posted photos of themselves marching into Staples with semiautomatic rifles and a Texas flag. When “neutral” means almost anyone can openly carry loaded guns into your place of business, remaining “neutral” is in effect siding with the gun extremists. That’s how frightening this debate has become.[T9]




[T1]An explicit position and authoritative tone.
[T2]A clear indication of why the topic matters.
[T3]Appropriate background information.
[T4]A response to what others have said or done.
[T5]An appeal to reader’s values.
[T6]A response to what others have said or done.
[T7]A response to what others have said or done.
[T8]A clear indication of why the topic matters.
[T9]An explicit position.

Three Questions About the Reading

1.) Does it really take a dozen pages to describe how to write a smart persuasive essay? Just list the rules and show people an example, no need to get all pizzazz about every detail, especially since some of your points are refutable.

2.) Are we supposed to use an authoritative voice or not? In this paper, it praises demanding papers, but several styles of persuasion were used in examples. Some were research papers, some were stories.

3.) Are they being desperately intricate about every simple lesson, or is it just me?

Expression of Opinion: Movie Review

Link to the review: http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies/2014/1003/Gone-Girl-The-movie-doesn-t-move-beyond-the-formulaic-video

I immediately went off the bat of this blog post by choosing a negative review of a movie I love, from a site that I loathe. The Christian Science Monitor, a title as jarring as Wealthy Ghetto Watch. Of course, as any open minded person should, I went in without bias and sought out their points and reasons for disliking the 2014 Fincher flick, Gone Girl.

And it did not shift my views at all.

From the start, they recognized the film's natural transition from the novel, but immediately fail to recognize any of the real dilemmas that made the narrative so engaging. Peter Rainer, the main reviewing, seems hung up by how the present scenes / out of New York scenes are not nearly as exciting as the beginning years of the character's relationship. This is an actual negative he states, he wants scenes in Missouri to be filled with dream-like love despite the disturbed nature of their move and the natural pacing that the protagonist's relationship goes through. It actually offends him.

Rainer goes on to state how he doesn't care to much for Fincher films anyways, which I can accept from a matured perspective, but his reasoning is bratty at best. "“Seven” and “The Fight Club”," two of film's best movies ever, vouched by their cultural and medium impact, "...were a smart adolescent’s idea of the heart of darkness, and “The Social Network”," another masterpiece of the 21st century, "...was a glib, smart-alecky epic about a master race of supernerds." Calling people children and nerds doesn't make you sound like a film buff or an intellectual, Rainer.

Failing to state real criticisms about these films at all just makes you sound like you didn't like them for the sake of not liking them. Call it "formulaic" as much as you want, but don't forget to tell people who may love the movie where it fell instead of being upset about how Missouri wasn't nearly as fun as it should of been. Other improvements range from reviewing the score, cinematography, or themes at play, to stating something insightful about where the movie fell off instead of being bored from the start.

Times I Took a Position

A list of positions I took in the past few days:

 - How many wheel barrel-fulls of wood did I need to bring in to fill up the fire place?

 - How long should I wait until I send a check up message to my brother about the screenplay I sent him?

 - When should I clean the kitchen?

 - How many loads of laundry should I cycle before letting someone else have the machines?

 - When should I let the dogs outside?

 - What foods should I eat for breakfast?

 - Should I look into the Dramatic Arts courses for Film?

 - How long should I wait before I fill up my car?

Narrative Essay

The air above ground was humid, above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and smelled of exhaust and manure. To get to the first destination of the day, we had to walk into a concentrated alleyway of compost and people, resembling a “haunted hallway” inside a “haunted house.” The only thing missing was a guy behind a rubber mask holding a chainsaw without the chain. Down in the museum, or the memorial to most, it was cool, dry, and clean. To be honest, it was a bit shocking to take the trains into New York and walk through the artificially swamped streets of pedestrians and cars, weaving through the noise and commotion to enter a place of somber solitude. I was in the middle of the 9/11 memorial, walking up to exhibits with strangers and parting separate ways; nothing was said. It was June of 2014 and my brother Shane had been invited to the National Summer Special Olympics for running, or sprinting-- I can’t remember too well. He had gotten 3^rd place for his team, which didn’t show up after the announcer called them to the stage, so he stood alone and accepted six bronze medals. He looked awesome.

While my brother stayed with his team in New Jersey, my mom, my brother Michael, my mom’s sister, and my cousin took the day to travel around New York. This wasn’t my first time in the arguably most popular city in the US, and it felt the same as when I first walked the streets several years ago with just my father, my brother and I. The day was set for us to stay in the memorial for a few hours, eat dinner at a Chinese restaurant in, coincidentally Chinatown, and see the Broadway play Of Mice and Men. In lowest to highest form of highlights, James Franco was a mediocre actor, the fried dumplings were so good I’m afraid to try them from another restaurant, and the memorial itself presented a human behavior code of conduct that I had never recognized before.

Upon entering the memorial, we slowly began to move ahead or lag behind, each of us in our family with a different level of eyesight, reading, athleticism, and attention span. I don't remember if I was ahead, but that wasn't my area of focus. Eventually, I was by myself in a colorful crowd of people, all silent and introverted. There was no common theme among these people, they came from everywhere. Nobody spoke, and if they made an exception it was to either hush someone or find a way of silencing someone. Walking from one artifact to another, contributing to the sole-scraping ambiance, I considered myself completely immersed in the experienced laid out before me. One behemoth display that I analyzed for a while was a gigantic wall of a few hundred squares, each painted a different shade of blue. Several stands that spanned the front of the perimeter said something along the lines of, “We asked everyone with spare time to try remembering what color the sky was on September 11^th, then paint it on the given canvases.”

Nearing a half hour in, as I approached a lone-window that remained unshattered in the collapse of one twin tower. Somebody walked up beside me to read the slab I was reading; a description of this fractured cement wall and what it meant. As stated before, nobody greeted each other or made remarks upon the exhibits; there was a hidden code in place that prevented people to impulsively talk. When you're standing beside someone, the only give away of their experience was how they breathed. I was just finishing the description and losing focus on the window when the man let one rip.

He let one rip and walked away.

I didn't react appalled, gasp or scoff, but it internally shocked me. Something as sorrowful and morbid had just been mixed with something absurdly random. I listened in to the people around me, waiting for a chuckle or a mumbled curse, but everyone kept quiet. I walked to a different exhibit than the one he shuffled to.

By the time I walked away from the window, gas was on the mind, despite my efforts to push it back. I slowed down to another artifact and started reading when someone, defiantly a different person, did the exact same thing-- as if nothing had happened. Starting then, not only was I to examine the entire memorial, but I began a sort of sociological study. I wanted to see just how frequently someone would come to an exhibit, pass gas, and continue touring the memorial. I walked from bikes, to pillars, to pictures; giving a complete read over of the information, but listening in.

Every time, every exhibit, someone farted.

It felt like a cruel joke, something out of a shock value comedy was being played on me. It wasn’t enough that one person did it and soiled a moment, it was the entire duration there that was ruined. Everything that I had taken to heart had fell upon a whoopee cushion. By the end of it, I regrouped with my mom, brother, aunt, and cousin, and retold what you just read before, more or less poetically. They sneered and scoffed, forgetting the joke by the time we walked back to ground level. We got lost trying to find the Chinese restaurant that my aunt wanted us to go to, she has lived in New York for her entire life, but rarely goes to this specific restaurant. After passing by locations resembling scenes from Law and Order: SVU, most likely because they were based upon or shot there, we ended up taking some stairs down into the restaurant and having the best Chinese food in my life. Then, the bill was paid and we parted ways: my mom, brother and I walked to Times Square and my aunt and cousin headed back home. I forgot the location of their house, but it reminded me of The Amazing Spiderman, so if you know where that is, that's probably a good idea where we stayed for my brother's olympics. The show was fine, the counterpart to James Franco really pulled off the innocent invalid, but the set pieces for me stole the show. Despite the remaining events of that day, it has stuck in my mind how people just “crop dusted” without reacting to it, or without anybody else showing offense. Was it too much to ask for an apology or just to hold it in?

Maybe it was.

People don't like to cause scenes or be involved in a scene. The “bystander effect” can vouch for this. Addressing someone's farts is as juvenile as letting them out in the first place, so I guess myself being a “sociologist” about it was childish in the first place. But it's not like it never happened in other morbid places. In fact, I bet you can recall some tragedy where someone acted inappropriately and remained unacknowledged by others, as if they had suddenly disappeared from the area. Maybe someone laughed at the wrong time or forgot to silence their phone, walked out of the room during an emotional scene, or the reverse for that matter. Whatever it takes to keep ourselves hidden, we'll ignore a colossal cement memorial full of farts as long as the AC works.

Ideas for the First Narrative Essay

Surreal Human Behavior in Morbid Areas

1.) In a morbid area, people farted a lot. I was mostly by myself, surrounded by hundreds of strangers.

2.) It happened June 2014, in the middle of the day. I was at the 9/11 Memorial, underneath New York.

3.) The dark comedy of strangers standing in front of artifacts, passing gas, and walking away.

4.) I am, first person.

5.) It shows how willing people are to ignore other's faults.


Worrying About Things that I Want to Happen

1.) I went to an art show that I submitted art in and nobody showed up. AP Studio Art students, my teacher, some parents and I.

2.) It happened June 2014, in the evening. I was in the library of Central Kitsap High School in Silverdale.

3.) The disappointment of no one showing up, despite myself worrying about a crowd of people.

4.) I am, first person.

5.) It depicts how what we worry about is not always what we do not want.

Group Intervention

Our fraction of a group met with another fraction of a group and discussed how each "team" tackled the question from Tuesday and what follies occurred before a solution came to. In the perspective of the other group, upon receiving the question, they decided to each work on it individually and try to overcome the assignment on their own terms. Eventually, coming to the end of class, they recognized the dysfunctional structure they clung to and abandoned it for rule-riddled and conventional collaboration. In our group, we started with deciphering the questions on chapter four and how to actually answer in place for another person. After arriving to a mental trick that optimized the answering process, we split up into individual workers, assigned to fractions of the work load until we came together with our answers for a conclusion. 

None of us actually used the method inside chapter four, but built from the ground our own work ethics and rules.

"It Get's Better" Prompt

When I use the word "powerful," I'm talking about impact upon society and the greater the chance the subject has to influence perceptions. It feels a bit morbid and insensitive to compare or rate someone's "Coming Out" video with another's, but I'm simply pointing out which videos forced a stronger impact and their reasons. So, onto the question. Which videos from It Gets Better were more powerful and why?

I watched a few, as the text asked, and thought to myself what merits these videos had, how they were made, who they were talking to and how personnel it was to them. Watching the president talk about LGBT was a bit exciting at first, but it started to feel like a safe ramble, a little bit coordinated and within check of political morals instead of passionate and empathetic. The next video I watched was a video created specifically for the site, created by a boy named Jamie. This one was shorter than the presidential address and although directly affected the person speaking, was cluttered and uncoordinated. It would of been forgettable if I hadn't seen the related videos of his suicide in the following weeks. The next one I saw was a soldier in Germany who was coming out to his dad in the states. By this point, it was the strongest contender because the confrontation was real and active in the video. There was a narrative, as chapter eight describes, that had a beginning, middle, and end. Despite the happy ending for everyone, I didn't feel like this would spur up people as much as the last video I watched did.

A man named Joel talked in his city hall about the recent suicides of bullied children and his struggles of being different from the norms of school. His was the longest video, but the most real and tangible. Not only was the person presenting the issue a sufferer himself, but he showed images of real children who recently committed suicide and how all of their deaths were directly related to LGBT harassment. Joel himself had come close to death, something that nearly halted his speech when he approached talking about it, and made the grim reality more commonplace than it looked before. I'd have to say that this was the most powerful narrative, telling a story that afflicts the audience, provides characters that many can empathize with, and delivers a morale that completes the narrative and makes it accessible to others who may not be interested.

Reality VS Ideals: Collaboration

In chapter four of the text, it summarized the necessity of collaboration, the frequency it occurs in the twenty-first century, and methods of practice in the work field. Nothing ever goes to plan, something that the fourth chapter should of talked about. In the book, it pretended that a group was clay, malleable and custom to change, which would harden over time and hold strong once the structure was in place. Groups that collaborate are more like different chemicals combining into a test tube. Results can vary depending on who you team up with and what properties they have. Taking a step back from fantasies, the work done in reality wasn't done according to the book. We all worked as rational and experienced writers, each of us attacking the problem in our own way. In the beginning, we talked about what the question meant and who would work on which, but after that, we pounded out answers in our own mind sets. It may not of been as formal or formatted as a college paper should of been, but it was done in quick and orderly fashion, and the reasonable answers from each collaborator was there.

In short, we didn't follow "effective collaboration" procedure, but the assignment was completed none the less.

People That Have Changed the World

1.) In the 1960’s, a religious group from the south gained massive members in its protest to end segregation. Their leader was Martin Luther King Jr.
2.) A group of revolutionaries got together for prolific meetings about politics, government, and life itself. They consisted of Presidents, Psychologists, and Philosophers. This was The Junto Society, later renamed The American Philosophical Society.
3.) In another side of the world, a man who fought segregation was imprisoned for 26 years before being released and elected President of the African National Congress. He was Nelson Mandela.

1.) Volunteered in Nursing Home
2.) Volunteered in AmeriCorps for Two Years
3.) Volunteered in High School Club

The things that all of these groups have in common is that they form under pressure, require patience for their results to come, and need to listen to understand the opposition and overcome it. They started off as sub-cultures, or in more extreme cases, counter cultures, moving against the grain of the dominant culture. These groups didn't just provide their information and move on to another subject or disband, they pounded it into the public, either moving people to act or forcing people to have them stop talking about it. Not only have these groups forced their norms into the dominant culture, but they've set the opposition into taboo.


Martin Luther King Jr.
Context
1. There's been a lot said and most of it leans the other way. It affects what I (MLK Jr) say because I want to make sure I approach other respectfully but with a strong voice. Protests, marches, speeches, and pamphlets are an effective way to get our opinion across.
2. This is ongoing, so there are some constraints like writing a speech for a specific day, but some of that is not planned. This takes all our time and energy.
3.There are some expectations that need to be met, like making sure we get our point across without offending others, but no direct person that it gets reported to.
Medium/Design
1. All types of media are used. Some are spoken (speeches) and some are print (hand-outs/pamphlets, newspaper articles). To be effective, we need to use more than one form of media.
2.Medium can determine what we can do, because it's the 1960's so there's no internet and media can sometimes be slow to get information out (there might be another news story that trumps yours)
3. Some mediums that we use do. For example, I have limited space on the flyer to get the important information out (the who, what, when ,where, why) and I want to make sure it also grabs attention.
4. Serious. Bold lettering, grabbing graphics, proven statistics all help.
5.Visuals are not needed, but bold headlines quickly get the point across. There might be a map included for gathering locations for marches, stand-ins, etc.
6. I can't include audio or video clips, because it's the 1960's.

Have you been assigned a specific genre?
 - No.
If you get to chose your genre...
 - Public protests and speeches.
Does your genre require a certain organization?
 - A speech, or a non-violent march across a populous.
How does your genre affect your tone?
 - I have to be firm in my stance yet not alienating the opposition. I'm converting people to my beliefs.
Are certain design features expected in your genre?
 - Signs, slogans for massive crowds to scream out, legal apparel and act in every way.
Who is your intended audience?
 - The public, everyone with and without a voice. People of and not of segregation.
How are members of your audience like and unlike you?
 - Some will hate and discredit everything I say base on beliefs or my appearance. They may also be oppressed through different stereotypes or social roles.
What's your relationship with you audience?
 - I'm a leader to some and a terrorist to others. I oppose the dominant culture and norms, to whom some grief from and others never face, so I'm the oppressed speaking to the ignorant, the oppressors, and my colleagues.
If you have a choice of medium... - Television and / or Radio.
What do you want your audience to think or do...
 - I want them to change the norms of society and re-enforce the constitutional rights of all citizens.
Can you assume your audience will be interested...
  - There will be people that resist, and some that will ignore our my speech.
How much does your audience know about your topic?
 - They're surrounded by it, but turn a blind eye. The true state of this oppression may be non-comprehended by most, or viewed with a dark heart by some.
Will your audience expect a particular genre?
 - They expect me to speak and lead.

Purpose
-What is their primary goal?
Martin's primary goal was to speak up so everyone had the same equal rights as anyone else. They worked together speaking, organizing, rallying, and marching.
-How could you describe their own motivation for writing?
Martin wanted nothing to do but end segregation
Stance
-whats their attitude toward their topic?
Martin Luther Kin'gs attitude was very strong & passionate. He did everything he could possibly do so everyone had their equal rights no matter what color.
-Whats their relationship with their audience?
When Martin Luther King gave his speeches his audience was a mixture of everything from family to friends and even strangers.
-How can he best convey their stance in their writing?
He used passive aggressive Martin was telling his audience what they were doing is wrong and that it needs to be stopped and fixed.
-How will your stance and tone be received by your audience?
The audience was a mixture of understanding and going against his wishes.

Define: Rhetoric

The definition of "thinking and acting rhetorically," for me, is selling the provided audience your perception or opinion of a subject or idea. It's captivating and engaging the viewer / reader / listener / whatever to follow along with your way of thinking or plan of action. Of course, as broad as this quotation is, this could mean being a clown or a rising world leader, dependent upon your charismatic skills. There's another factor, how much passion you're inserting into your rhetoric. You could be casually addressing a local news story or going full Charlie Chaplin about a new and beautiful paradigm in perceiving life.

Rhetoric is simply, using minimal rhetoric to define it, persuading with language.

Awkward Ways to Ask People for Party Favors: Haiku

I can't wait for you
To come to our party, dude
But we need napkins.

Dude, dude, dude, hold up
Jesse just puked on the floor
Bring Baking Soda

Forget everything
My mom just came home with cops
Ditch the stash and bolt

-------------------------------------------------

Working with a team helped me work in the best content and trim out the worst. The entire process was elevated from bearable to enjoyable, and I recognize that group projects bring a more creative and spontaneous product through the creative process.

"Is everyone an author?"

     Short answer, yes, but by this point, being an author means pretty much nothing. Having the skill of publishing an article or block of text you created is as rare as knowing how to drive a car; just about everyone old enough can do it. At this time in history, everybody by age twenty can label themselves as "authors," yet only a fraction can establish an idea with decent English skills. A common theme in "authors" these days is a lack of punctuation, consistency, spell check, and rational thought. If you want a source of these claims, go to your Facebook page or a relatives or whatever, and scroll through five posts from five different people. Chances are, 4.5 out of 5 people cannot bother to communicate like a normal human being through social media. Google Translate would provide better execution in English structure than most "authors" these days.

     If I can keep rambling on, the introduction to Everybody's An Author felt pretentious and preachy, in a pounding-on-the-door-to-sell-you-the-next-big-religion sort of way. Just because the author rate went from 0.0001 to 100% doesn't mean everybody turned into bestselling writers, it's just gotten as achievable as graduating from high school. Now being a good author is a different story...