Persuasion is used by many businesses, companies, and governments to lean people certain ways. The most common types of persuasion in ads are ethos, pathos, and logos. In a recent ad about cocaine that I found on the Ads of the World website showed examples of ethos and pathos but no logos.
The Colombian government used a few ethos in the ad. Most ads use celebrities or major reliable companies to endorse their ads as their ethos, but the makers of this ad wanted to put a negative effect on the selected audiences. In the center of the photo of the ad is a well-dressed man with the face of a giant nose showing that he is wealthy and is a cocaine user. The man is also holding a gun giving a sense of fear to the viewers of the ad. The gun gives the viewers an impression that since he is snorting coke, then he is funding the kidnappings, which implies that he may as well have been a kidnapper. The fact that he is a rich party person that funds kidnappings gives the targeted audiences a negative impression on cocaine use. The text in the top left of the ad "Cocaine helps you stay up all night when you're clubbing. It also helps finance terrorist kidnappings..." helps to make viewer want to stay away from cocaine and to keep from being like the man in the ad.
The fact that cocaine users are funding terrorist kidnappings makes the users feel guilty. This is the government using pathos in their ad to give an emotional effect on their audiences. The visual picture of the helpless girl in the closet with the wealthy cocaine user guarding the door with a gun puts a fear on parents about their children being kidnapped. The gun really sticks out to me because I have always thought of a gun as being an object that strikes fear. This ad makes a very good point that Colombians do not want their country destroyed by cocaine. The statement "Cocaine doesn't destroy people, it destroys a country" in the top left side of the ad also strikes fear into the viewer of their country being destroyed.
While studying this ad, I noticed that the ad designer did not put logos in the ad. I started to realize that cocaine users do not care about research that has been done on the use of cocaine, they already know that cocaine is bad for them. So the studies would not persuade a person to quit snorting cocaine. Also if people used logic to decide to snort cocaine or not, they would have never started using cocaine in the first place. Visual pictures have more of an effect on people than reading research. The makers of this ad made a good decision by not using logos in this ad.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Kaziranga Defender
In this photo a defender of Kaziranga is bathing before the start of a long day. My first impression of the man was not that he was bathing, I first thought that he was just washing off his feet to keep from tracking dirt into his house. When I realized that he was actually taking a bath, I also realized the poverty in other countries and how many Americans like myself take advantage of our wealth.
When I first started to really study the picture I notice a bar of soap in the man's left hand. If I am just washing off my feet to keep from tracking in dirt, I do not use soap. I just rinse my feet off with a water hose and shower inside my house later. His entire body is wet giving an obvious sign that this man is doing more in the photo than just rinsing his feet.
Most people that I know use a water hose at their house. This man has filled a bucket with water that he got from an old fashioned water pump and uses a cup to pour the water onto his body. Since the water is coming from an old water pump, I doubt that the water is heated. I tried to figure out if my thought on the temperature of the water was correct and scrolled down to the bottom of the picture to find out if there was any text below the picture. The caption below the photo said that the man was in fact using a bucket of cold well water. The water that I use to take a bath is not cold. Like most Americans, I have a hot water heater that gives me the luxury of soaking in hot water.
Shown by the way the man is bathing outside with cold water from a bucket, the Kaziranga defender obviously lives in a life of poverty. The caption below the photograph of this man says that he and other guards like him seldom complain about lack of conveniences. Americans are not the same way. We take advantage of every hot shower we take and do not even think about other people not able to take a nice shower. Analyzing this photo was a real eye opener for me on the poverty of others.
When I first started to really study the picture I notice a bar of soap in the man's left hand. If I am just washing off my feet to keep from tracking in dirt, I do not use soap. I just rinse my feet off with a water hose and shower inside my house later. His entire body is wet giving an obvious sign that this man is doing more in the photo than just rinsing his feet.
Most people that I know use a water hose at their house. This man has filled a bucket with water that he got from an old fashioned water pump and uses a cup to pour the water onto his body. Since the water is coming from an old water pump, I doubt that the water is heated. I tried to figure out if my thought on the temperature of the water was correct and scrolled down to the bottom of the picture to find out if there was any text below the picture. The caption below the photo said that the man was in fact using a bucket of cold well water. The water that I use to take a bath is not cold. Like most Americans, I have a hot water heater that gives me the luxury of soaking in hot water.
Shown by the way the man is bathing outside with cold water from a bucket, the Kaziranga defender obviously lives in a life of poverty. The caption below the photograph of this man says that he and other guards like him seldom complain about lack of conveniences. Americans are not the same way. We take advantage of every hot shower we take and do not even think about other people not able to take a nice shower. Analyzing this photo was a real eye opener for me on the poverty of others.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Senseless Tradition
When I started looking for a short story to read, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson caught my eye. At first I thought that the lottery in the story would be like the lottery that many people play in the United States every year for profit. I was very wrong. The tradition of the lottery in the book does not seem right but the people in the village think that the lottery is what keeps the village running richly. If the village stopped tradition, the villagers would live in poverty.
At approximately the same time each year, the people of a small village of about 300 citizens gathered for their annual lottery. The lottery was overseen each year by Mr. Summers, a jovial but professional and much respected man in the community, who carried out his job with little emotion or regret. He and the other villagers conducted the lottery just as any other social event, such as square dances, the Halloween program and the teenage club. Even the children participated as if it was just an accepted part of everyday life as they gathered stones at the beginning of the story. The fact that the tradition involved the brutal murder of one of their own did not seem to matter because this was something that had been accepted for years as the way things were supposed to be done.
The old tattered black box used during the lottery was in need of repair and needed to be replaced according to Mr. Summers. Each year after the lottery Mr. Summers brought up the subject of building a new box, but the people of the village did not want to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box. They would rather continue to use the same shabby looking box than upset tradition by building a new one.
As tradition went, all of the families of this village would gather, and one by one the head of each household or an approved replacement would draw a slip of paper out of the old black box. The family of the person who drew the winning lottery ticket then had to draw individually to see who would be the winner of the lottery. No one wanted to win this lottery unlike today when everyone wants to win the lottery. Those who drew blank slips of paper showed excitement and relief.
Mr. and Mrs. Adams brought up the fact that other villages had quit the lottery. Perhaps they were hinting that their village should do the same but neither dared to go against tradition. The idea of not having a lottery was quickly put down by Old Man Warner, because there had always been a lottery. He referenced that abolishing the lottery would cause nothing but trouble and the young people who even thought about quitting the lottery were nothing but fools. Even though there were underlying hints of disagreeing with the lottery shown by the reluctance and nervousness of some of the villagers when it was their turn to draw, no one was brave enough to try to go against what had been the tradition for years. They had done the same thing for so long that they only half listened when Mr. Summers gave the directions for drawing names.
The only hint of explanation given for the lottery was a saying repeated by Old Man Warner stating that ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon’ leading me to believe that the lottery is apparently some kind annual sacrifice to ensure healthy corn crops which in this day and time would be totally unbelievable. Nevertheless, the townspeople gathered every year to carry out this barbaric act of sacrifice by stoning, carried out by friends and family of the victim, also known as the winner of the lottery.
Tessie Hutchison, the winner of the lottery, was stoned to death by the very friends and family that she spent time with on a daily basis. Her desperate screams meant nothing to the crowd that was closing in on her. Tradition was more important than the life of one of their friends in this seemingly close knit community. Even those who mentioned quitting the lottery still involved themselves in the stoning. In fact, Steve Adams was a leader in front of the crowd as the stoning was carried out.
It is clear by reading “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson that people do not like or are afraid of change. She uses symbolism of the black box and the nonchalant attitude of many of the villagers to prove this point as the lottery is conducted and the sacrifice of one of the villagers is carried out brutally.
At approximately the same time each year, the people of a small village of about 300 citizens gathered for their annual lottery. The lottery was overseen each year by Mr. Summers, a jovial but professional and much respected man in the community, who carried out his job with little emotion or regret. He and the other villagers conducted the lottery just as any other social event, such as square dances, the Halloween program and the teenage club. Even the children participated as if it was just an accepted part of everyday life as they gathered stones at the beginning of the story. The fact that the tradition involved the brutal murder of one of their own did not seem to matter because this was something that had been accepted for years as the way things were supposed to be done.
The old tattered black box used during the lottery was in need of repair and needed to be replaced according to Mr. Summers. Each year after the lottery Mr. Summers brought up the subject of building a new box, but the people of the village did not want to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box. They would rather continue to use the same shabby looking box than upset tradition by building a new one.
As tradition went, all of the families of this village would gather, and one by one the head of each household or an approved replacement would draw a slip of paper out of the old black box. The family of the person who drew the winning lottery ticket then had to draw individually to see who would be the winner of the lottery. No one wanted to win this lottery unlike today when everyone wants to win the lottery. Those who drew blank slips of paper showed excitement and relief.
Mr. and Mrs. Adams brought up the fact that other villages had quit the lottery. Perhaps they were hinting that their village should do the same but neither dared to go against tradition. The idea of not having a lottery was quickly put down by Old Man Warner, because there had always been a lottery. He referenced that abolishing the lottery would cause nothing but trouble and the young people who even thought about quitting the lottery were nothing but fools. Even though there were underlying hints of disagreeing with the lottery shown by the reluctance and nervousness of some of the villagers when it was their turn to draw, no one was brave enough to try to go against what had been the tradition for years. They had done the same thing for so long that they only half listened when Mr. Summers gave the directions for drawing names.
The only hint of explanation given for the lottery was a saying repeated by Old Man Warner stating that ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon’ leading me to believe that the lottery is apparently some kind annual sacrifice to ensure healthy corn crops which in this day and time would be totally unbelievable. Nevertheless, the townspeople gathered every year to carry out this barbaric act of sacrifice by stoning, carried out by friends and family of the victim, also known as the winner of the lottery.
Tessie Hutchison, the winner of the lottery, was stoned to death by the very friends and family that she spent time with on a daily basis. Her desperate screams meant nothing to the crowd that was closing in on her. Tradition was more important than the life of one of their friends in this seemingly close knit community. Even those who mentioned quitting the lottery still involved themselves in the stoning. In fact, Steve Adams was a leader in front of the crowd as the stoning was carried out.
It is clear by reading “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson that people do not like or are afraid of change. She uses symbolism of the black box and the nonchalant attitude of many of the villagers to prove this point as the lottery is conducted and the sacrifice of one of the villagers is carried out brutally.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
The BP Oil Leak
Lately, the BP oil spill has been one of the most discussed stories in the news. I have been researching many news sites such as The New York Times, Newsweek, Yahoo! news, and many other sites looking for information on what BP has tried to do to recover from the blowup and stop the leak. BP's drilling on a deep water well caused a major blowup and they have tried in many ways to stop the leak. Unfortunately, all of the attempts to stop the leak have failed. Did BP take enough precaution to keep the leak from happening? Is BP working hard enough to stop the leak and to clean up this huge tragedy? These are just a few of the questions that came to mind when I began researching. I have come to the conclusion that BP has been very irresponsible in caring for their wells and should stop deep water drilling before there is another blowup.
Did BP take enough precaution to keep the leak from happening? "Efforts to activate the well's blowout preventer fail" is what I read from David Cutler's timeline on Yahoo! news. In other words, BP made the precaution to put in a blowout preventer before drilling. They made a precaution but that was obviously not enough. The best way to have prevented the blowout would have been to not drill at all.
Is BP working hard enough to stop the leak and to clean up the big mess? BP has tried many times to stop the leak but the leak still has not been stopped. 'Top Kill' has been the last failed attempt to stop the leak so far.
BP tried to build a containment cap to plug the well before attempting 'Top Kill' and now that 'Top Kill' has failed they are trying to use a containment cap again. "Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, said at a news conference that the engineers would try once again to solve the problem with a containment cap and that it could take four to seven days for the device to be in place," was part of an interview that I found while researching on The New York Times. Also while researching, I found that the Louisiana government has taken a stand on cleaning up the spill. Newsweek had a story on how the Florida government has also taken a big stand on cleaning up the big mess. BP has not taken the stands that these two governments have on the cleanup.
In conclusion, although BP has tried in many ways to prevent a blowup and stop the leak, have not done enough and should work harder at making the economy safer.
Did BP take enough precaution to keep the leak from happening? "Efforts to activate the well's blowout preventer fail" is what I read from David Cutler's timeline on Yahoo! news. In other words, BP made the precaution to put in a blowout preventer before drilling. They made a precaution but that was obviously not enough. The best way to have prevented the blowout would have been to not drill at all.
Is BP working hard enough to stop the leak and to clean up the big mess? BP has tried many times to stop the leak but the leak still has not been stopped. 'Top Kill' has been the last failed attempt to stop the leak so far.
BP tried to build a containment cap to plug the well before attempting 'Top Kill' and now that 'Top Kill' has failed they are trying to use a containment cap again. "Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, said at a news conference that the engineers would try once again to solve the problem with a containment cap and that it could take four to seven days for the device to be in place," was part of an interview that I found while researching on The New York Times. Also while researching, I found that the Louisiana government has taken a stand on cleaning up the spill. Newsweek had a story on how the Florida government has also taken a big stand on cleaning up the big mess. BP has not taken the stands that these two governments have on the cleanup.
In conclusion, although BP has tried in many ways to prevent a blowup and stop the leak, have not done enough and should work harder at making the economy safer.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Of Mice and Men
Detail
John Steinbeck uses the first paragraph in the book Of Mice and Men to set up the entire story. He uses parallels to give clues about the characters that come up in the book.
"the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green". This quote means many different things to me. When I think of the word deep, I think strong or something deep in depth like water or words being spoken to me can be deep. George is the deep one in the book because he has a great depth of mind. Green can mean jealous, sickly, or new life. Lennie is the green one because he is sick in the mind. He does not think very deeply.
"slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains" is another quote that was used as a parallel in the first paragraph. The word strong reminds me of something stable. Rocky reminds me of something rough and unstable like loose boulders that could fall at any time. George is the strong and stable character. He is mentally strong unlike Lennie who is rocky in the mind and can not think for himself.
Another parallel is used in the quote "under the trees leaves lie deep and so crisp". Deep still means strong or great in depth. Also deep can mean stable. If a rod is deep in the ground then it is more stable than if it was closer to the surface. George's mind is deep. He has a very stable mind and his opinions cannot easily be broken. Something crisp like a leaf can be easily broken and ripped apart. Lennie's mind is crisp. He does not have his own opinion about anything. George makes all of the decisions and cannot be put down easily or made to believe something very easily.
In the quote "a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down from the highway" there are different people being talked about with the same dream and have a lot of struggles to get to their dream. Lennie, George, and Candy are all completely different people coming from different places with the same dream to own their own land. They have financial problems and struggle to reach their dream.
The last quote that spoke to me with a parallel is "the limb is worn smooth by men who sat on it". A limb that has been sat on many times gets used to being sat on and gets worn smooth. George has taken care of Lennie so long that he has gotten used to being around him and taking care of him that he has a permanent wear.
Point of View
The third person point of view helps me to see the life that the men in the book Of Mice and Men lead.
From a passage on page 68, the quote, "Crooks did not see him...on raising his eyes...a scowl came on his face" shows that Crooks does not like company and that he is more of a loner than a person that likes company. He values his privacy. Since his reaction was a scowl instead of a "hello" or a smile, I assume that Crooks was not looking to find a friend or a relationship of any kind. "Lenny smiled helplessly in an attempt to make friends," shows that Lenny was knowingly walking in on Crooks when he was not supposed to but he went in anyways because he was looking for a friendship. He seems like the type of person that does not like to be alone and needs a relationship.
On page 100, another passage shows how lonely Lenny is and how he does not like to be alone. "And then from out of Lennie's head there came a little fat old woman," shows that when no one is around, Lenny feels so lonely that people come to mind and speak to him to keep him company. "You do bad things," is a quote from Aunt Clara. George or somebody else is always criticising Lennie so he got so used to being yelled at that Aunt Clara comes to his mind to yell at him because he probably feels uncomfortable when he is not being yelled at.
Tone
A devotional and hopeful tone was put in Steinbeck's novel that describe the relationship of two men, Lennie and George.
"No-look! I was jus' foolin', Lennie. 'Cause I want you to stay with me," is a what George says to Lennie on page 13 after they get into a fight. George obviously wants Lennie to stay with him no matter how bad their fights are. George has a devoted relationship to Lennie. On page 72 Crooks is telling Lennie that George could get hurt. Lennie then says, "Ain't nobody goin' to suppose no hurt to George," and " Ain't nobody goin' to talk no hurt to George." These two quotes show Lennie's devotion to George. Not only does he not want George hurt, but he does not want anyone to even talk about George even being able to get hurt. Lennie believes that as long as he is around, no one can hurt George.
Lennie is repeatedly wanting George to tell him of a place that they are going to live on their own. In their words they are going to live on 'the fatta the lan'. When George is giving details on their future home that has rabbits and alfalfa and cows and chickens and more, they both get hopeful and start to think that they could someday have the home that they fantasize about. They get so hopeful that they even make a plan to go after their dream land.
John Steinbeck uses the first paragraph in the book Of Mice and Men to set up the entire story. He uses parallels to give clues about the characters that come up in the book.
"the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green". This quote means many different things to me. When I think of the word deep, I think strong or something deep in depth like water or words being spoken to me can be deep. George is the deep one in the book because he has a great depth of mind. Green can mean jealous, sickly, or new life. Lennie is the green one because he is sick in the mind. He does not think very deeply.
"slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains" is another quote that was used as a parallel in the first paragraph. The word strong reminds me of something stable. Rocky reminds me of something rough and unstable like loose boulders that could fall at any time. George is the strong and stable character. He is mentally strong unlike Lennie who is rocky in the mind and can not think for himself.
Another parallel is used in the quote "under the trees leaves lie deep and so crisp". Deep still means strong or great in depth. Also deep can mean stable. If a rod is deep in the ground then it is more stable than if it was closer to the surface. George's mind is deep. He has a very stable mind and his opinions cannot easily be broken. Something crisp like a leaf can be easily broken and ripped apart. Lennie's mind is crisp. He does not have his own opinion about anything. George makes all of the decisions and cannot be put down easily or made to believe something very easily.
In the quote "a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down from the highway" there are different people being talked about with the same dream and have a lot of struggles to get to their dream. Lennie, George, and Candy are all completely different people coming from different places with the same dream to own their own land. They have financial problems and struggle to reach their dream.
The last quote that spoke to me with a parallel is "the limb is worn smooth by men who sat on it". A limb that has been sat on many times gets used to being sat on and gets worn smooth. George has taken care of Lennie so long that he has gotten used to being around him and taking care of him that he has a permanent wear.
Point of View
The third person point of view helps me to see the life that the men in the book Of Mice and Men lead.
From a passage on page 68, the quote, "Crooks did not see him...on raising his eyes...a scowl came on his face" shows that Crooks does not like company and that he is more of a loner than a person that likes company. He values his privacy. Since his reaction was a scowl instead of a "hello" or a smile, I assume that Crooks was not looking to find a friend or a relationship of any kind. "Lenny smiled helplessly in an attempt to make friends," shows that Lenny was knowingly walking in on Crooks when he was not supposed to but he went in anyways because he was looking for a friendship. He seems like the type of person that does not like to be alone and needs a relationship.
On page 100, another passage shows how lonely Lenny is and how he does not like to be alone. "And then from out of Lennie's head there came a little fat old woman," shows that when no one is around, Lenny feels so lonely that people come to mind and speak to him to keep him company. "You do bad things," is a quote from Aunt Clara. George or somebody else is always criticising Lennie so he got so used to being yelled at that Aunt Clara comes to his mind to yell at him because he probably feels uncomfortable when he is not being yelled at.
Tone
A devotional and hopeful tone was put in Steinbeck's novel that describe the relationship of two men, Lennie and George.
"No-look! I was jus' foolin', Lennie. 'Cause I want you to stay with me," is a what George says to Lennie on page 13 after they get into a fight. George obviously wants Lennie to stay with him no matter how bad their fights are. George has a devoted relationship to Lennie. On page 72 Crooks is telling Lennie that George could get hurt. Lennie then says, "Ain't nobody goin' to suppose no hurt to George," and " Ain't nobody goin' to talk no hurt to George." These two quotes show Lennie's devotion to George. Not only does he not want George hurt, but he does not want anyone to even talk about George even being able to get hurt. Lennie believes that as long as he is around, no one can hurt George.
Lennie is repeatedly wanting George to tell him of a place that they are going to live on their own. In their words they are going to live on 'the fatta the lan'. When George is giving details on their future home that has rabbits and alfalfa and cows and chickens and more, they both get hopeful and start to think that they could someday have the home that they fantasize about. They get so hopeful that they even make a plan to go after their dream land.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Lange's Photos
Dorothea Lange took many photos of a migrant mother and her family. Of all of the photographs, one caught my eye the most. In this picture the woman was sitting with her children and her wedding ring stood out.
The photos show obvious financial struggle with the family. The ring on the mother's finger looks like it would be worth a lot. So why does she keep it? Why does she not sell the ring to buy better shelter for her family. My guess is that the ring is her most valuable possesion and that she may possibly be widowed and the ring is the only memory of him that she has. She probably does not want to lose that memory of him unless she has to.
The photos show obvious financial struggle with the family. The ring on the mother's finger looks like it would be worth a lot. So why does she keep it? Why does she not sell the ring to buy better shelter for her family. My guess is that the ring is her most valuable possesion and that she may possibly be widowed and the ring is the only memory of him that she has. She probably does not want to lose that memory of him unless she has to.
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