Avatars and the Online World

      For the reading on pages 121-126, I read about avatars and how they relate to their creators.  It discusses how some people choose to represent themselves through their avatars, while some people choose to display themselves as something totally different.  Three people from various places were shown as examples.  Jason, the first example, is a handicap who uses a storm trooper as his avatar due to the fact that some of the qualities it has resemble him.  One of these qualities is the way that they both communicate, which is with a keyboard.  His main reason that he chose his avatar was because he wanted to be viewed the same as every other gamer.  Rebecca, the second example, uses an opposite gender so she will not be stereotyped for being female in the gaming world.  And Cassien, the third example, also uses an opposite gender, a blonde female, to receive things from other players online and to be involved in people's groups even though he is not a very good player.
      I think it's interesting how people can choose to represent themselves online in this way.  Everyone can choose whether or not they want to make themselves accepted by making themselves appeal to what people want to see, or they can simply try to represent themselves as they are in real life.  One thing that I think is cool is that people online don't know if you are representing yourself as you truly are or not.  It is all up to the creator to decide what he wants to do with his/her avatar and how it will be incorporated with online reactions.  Considering online gaming, this definitely can be a positive for people that are skilled, while it can also be a positive for people who don't even know how to play a certain game.
     Personally, the main form that I present myself online is through Facebook.  On Facebook, I present myself as I am, but I don't display information that is very personal.  I would rather people see me as myself and know who they are communicating with.  I would say with Facebook, this is what most people want to do (otherwise it goes against the point of having a Facebook in my knowledge).
     In the classroom, we can all relate to avatars due to the fact that we need to see each other as equal.  We shouldn't judge people by their appearance and we should respect the opinions and ideas of others.  This relates brilliantly to the whole theme of avatars.
  

Reading Synthesis for 9/16

   As I read pages 17-37 in the DK handbook, I looked at some great techniques for writing papers in general.  The first topic discusses the differences between "composing to learn", which is how writers become better,  and "composing to communicate", which is writing for your peers.  The process of research is described, and over several pages it gives examples about how the topic should start off general and then be narrowed.  On page 25 it mentions that laying out a schedule for your writing helps keep you on task and reach your goals that you want for your paper.  I like the way it gives an example of how a schedule could be made for a specific paper.  On page 29 I like the recommendations it gives for beginning your research, giving the examples of google, newspapers, television shows, and simply communicating with others.  Towards the end of my DK reading, it describes brainstorming, freewriting, clustering, and research guided questioning.  I believe these are all good techniques to use to help develop ideas and I personally use at least a couple of these each time I write.
   In my Ch.11 reading, I chose pages 293-296.  It discusses the differences of Myspace and Facebook and why people choose one or the other.  The article mentions that Myspace is sometimes considered "tacky" and "cluttered", but goes on to describe Facebook as considered by some as "boring".  These opinions were gathered from interviewing teens of different races and different locations around the United States.  One thing that it credits Myspace for is that it lets people express themselves, and can easily relate to Hip-Hop culture well.  It credits Facebook with having good profile personalization.  Ultimately, the article concludes with the fact that the preference of Myspace or Facebook is shaped by factors such as taste, class, and race.

Opinion on first essay

             My opinion on the first essay is that it is challenging and time consuming, but not too difficult.  I've had to pace myself and receive two help sessions from the writing center, so I've definitely tried to do the best with the assignment.  I think that analyzing rhetoric has helped me understand advertisements and how literary elements are evoked in their arguments that are used to sell their products.  This essay is a great first essay for the class, starting our writing off not too hard but not too simple.  The key to this writing assignment is to not procrastinate, but to start on it a week early.  I believe this is what all English professors want their students to do.

Orbach's article

           Susie Orbach's article "Fat is an Advertising Issue" describes the issues that the advertising world is causing by making young girls and women believe that they must look "perfect" to be accepted in society.  The author describes how she felt as Dove asked for her help for the development of their new campaign that would improve beauty advertising.  The goals for the new campaign would be for women to feel accepted no matter what the size or shape of their body is.  Throughout the article, Orbach mentions numerous statistics, most consisting of how most advertisements cause eating disorders and health problems.  She also mentions that women portray bad images for their daughters by wanting to appeal to these advertisements. 
             Overall, I agree with the message that Orbach is conveying with this article.  People should spend less time worrying about the way they look and focus more on important things in life.  This issue is more relevant to women, but it can somewhat relate to everyone.  This whole issue deals with the effect of what our peer's think about us.  If we focus too much on our appearance to our peers, then that prevents us from achieving goals and enjoying life to the fullest.  Instances of logos and ethos are used here by Orbach by appealing to the emotions of a broad, general audience and understanding how to relate to each individual on a person level.  This is the key to successful advertising.
           

My essay Ad (Panasonic)

The ad that I am using for my essay due next week is an ad by Panasonic, which is trying to sell their their new TV "viera 3D".  The ad is trying to sell the idea that their TV is realistic and lifelike by having a dinosaur pop out of a TV and a homeowner demanding it go back into the TV.  At the bottom of the photograph it has a slogan that says "Panasonic: Ideas for life".  All of this is trying to persuade consumers that their 3D TV is the best on the market.  The character used in the ad is an average woman in an ordinary home.  Therefore the ad is attempting to appeal to everyone, trying to make everyone believe that owning one is just within their grasp.  The theme used here, with exaggeration, is that the "viera 3D" is so realistic that images will literally come out into your living room.  The medium used for this advertisement was print, and it clearly makes its point with the picture and the logo.  The commentary used by the slogan, however, only has one perspective and brings up the argument of rather Panasonic really is the best option for 3D TV's.  If you look at the words and image used in this ad, the words clearly describe the image and the point that the ad is trying to get across to consumers.  The voice used to convey its message in the ad is informal, informing everyone that their TV is more realistic than its competitors.  Considering rhetorical appeals, the image is definitely designed to produce an emotional effect on the audience by making them desire the TV.  The ad uses the strategies of illustration and example to show the audience what the true picture of the TV is like.  Also, the cultural resonance used in the ad is in the images on the TV.  It depicts an action filled movie with dinosaurs and shows how magnificent the images appear, appealing to movie lovers everywhere.