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Class Reflection

During the course of my writing 120 class, there have been many things I have enjoyed. One thing, in particular, was my instructor. She made everything very easy to learn, and she knew how to teach, which always makes a class enjoyable. Another thing I enjoyed was writing my first paper. I enjoyed it because writing that paper was a test of my skills. It tested me because I have never written about my literacy before, or even really put a thought into it. Overall, I enjoyed everything in my Writing 120 class. I did not dislike any of the work, but I did have trouble doing the podcast assignment. I struggled with that project because again, it was something I have never done before. It was very interesting to work on. I was honestly confused as to why we were doing a podcast for a writing class, but I was glad I had the opportunity to try something new. The podcast project was also a struggle for me because I am not a very good speaker, when I talk I mess up my words a lot. So, it took me several tries to get one segment done. There is nothing I would do differently for the projects seems how I got 100% on the first to (I have yet to find out the grade for the third project) but if I could do the class over, I would have done every QQC assigned to us. While I only missed three, and messed up on two of them, if I would have done the ones I missed, and corrected the mistakes I made, I would have 100% in the class instead of a high 96%. I know I have improved throughout this class because I now feel very confident in my writing skills. I believe that whatever subject or topic is thrown my way, I can write an essay, or paper on it and achieve a good grade. I knew I loved writing before this class, but it has only helped to make me realize it more. I have learned serval things during this course. Some things that stick out in my mind are, Kairos, and the usage of shapes and colors when manipulating people’s minds. I plan to use these things that I have learned in the future for when I have other classes and we have to write papers, or possibly create ads. Depending on what I do with my career I could use Kairos and shapes and colors to help persuade or manipulate minds. If I decide to do something with art, those things I have been taught could help a lot. My future in writing is not going to be a very big future. I still plan on writing, but only for school projects, or possibly if I become a teacher. I have not decided fully what I want to do with my life, but I know that I will not be an author or any books.

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About Me

Hi, my name is Zoe Buck, I am a freshman at Eastern Michigan University. I enjoy watching football and basketball with my dad, listening to music, hanging out with my best friends Michaela, and Madison, and writing papers for my English 120 class. My favorite colors are pink, and green. I will be majoring in Special Education k-12 Autism Spectrum Disorders, which is why I have a volunteer position at the Autism Collaborative Center on campus. While I can be a multitasker, I also love to procrastinate, but so far in my first year, everything gets turned in on time.

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Pepsi Analysis

For years Pepsi has been creating ads to get people to purchase their soda brand. The picture on the left is an ad from the year 1950. I chose this ad because it is an older Pepsi ad. I also chose the ad because of its rhetorical aspects. This ad has many examples of Ethos, Pathos, Logos and Kairos. You can find Ethos, or the ethics in the picture from the Pepsi logo. For Logos, or logic, you can see the “Be Sociable, Have a Pepsi”. The people being social in the picture makes the slogan logical. The ad’s picture shows a lot of Pathos. Pathos, or emotional appeal is being shown in the picture by the illustrator making everyone appealing to the eyes. The people are all skinny, pretty, and have no blemishes. Another example of Pathos is everyone having fun in the picture. When you see people having fun in ads, it makes you want to have fun as well and makes you want to buy the product in the ad. Pathos is very effective in ads because when a person sees someone pretty, sad, happy, or any emotion at all, it makes people viewing the ad to have a certain want when it comes to the product. Kairos, or the right moment in this ad is important, but not too significant. On one hand, if these people were acting this way in an office setting it would not make sense, but if these people were in a bar being social and drinking Pepsi, it would still work. Therefore, this is not the only setting this ad would work with. This ad is making the argument that if you drink Pepsi, it will make you more social, or basically that it is a party drink. It makes that argument by having the people in the picture talking, laughing, and having fun while the slogan says, “Be Sociable, Have a Pepsi”. The audience that is targeted for this ad would be younger, white men and women. The reason being is younger people are typically more social, there are men and women in this ad, and they are most likely targeting white people because in the 1950′s, blacks were still being segregated. The visuals being used in the ad are rounded edges, soft colors and people smiling. The visuals all promote safeness and happiness which can trick people’s brains into thinking they need the product. This ad is very rhetorically effective because when someone is not analyzing the pictures and words as I am, they will look at the ad and think, wow, I really want a Pepsi. The illustrators made drinking a Pepsi look very appealing.

This Pepsi ad is from the year 2011. I chose this ad because it was a newer Pepsi ad and I could tell I would also be able to do a good rhetorical analysis for this ad due to the many examples of Ethos, Logos, Pathos and Kairos. An example of Ethos, or Ethics in the ad is the (newer) Pepsi logo. You can find Logos, or logic in this ad in the calorie count on the can. While it is very hard to see, it still there. The calorie count ties in with the “skinny can” and the fact that it is a diet Pepsi. For Pathos, or emotional appeal, you can see the visual appealing girl. She is very pretty, and the colors surrounding her are very appealing and calm. Visuals tie in with Pathos because they can cause emotion. If you see someone pretty, you will feel happy, or if you see something or someone ugly, you might feel upset or strange. For Kairos, there is not really a situation, or a place in the ad, but if you imagine this same picture with the background of the desert, the situation of the girl drinking her diet Pepsi does not work. The blue background is a great use of Kairos even though it is not a place or situation because if the girl was in an actual situation it would look very strange. There was some controversy over this ad, many people thought it was demeaning to woman and that it promoted an unhealthy body image (Skidmore). I can see where people thought this, but it is just a can of soda. Any type of soda, even diet will make a person gain weight. The argument this ad seems to be making is that skinny is better, which is why there was some controversy. The ad seems to be targeting white women. I say white women because the picture uses a white woman. Also, women tend to care more about their figures and have a want or need to be skinny. The ad is visually appealing mostly because of the usage of the color blue. Blue is a color that is very calming, and it makes people feel good. When people see this ad, they feel calm, and it makes people want to drink a Pepsi. This ad is very rhetorically effective because of the loaded words it uses, like skinny. Skinny makes people feel emotional, whether it’s happy or sad. That is why skinny is a huge loaded word when it comes to this ad. Another reason this ad is rhetorically effective is because of the Ethos, Logos, Pathos and Kairos examples and because of the calming blue visuals. 

A Pepsi ad from the 1950′s and a Pepsi ad from 2011 are easily comparable. Times were so different in the 1950′s than they were in 2011. For instance, ads were mostly drawn instead of a photoshopped picture of a model. One analytic similarity in the two ads is that the people/person in the ads are visually appealing. They are skinny, pretty, and surrounded by calming colors. This similarity is HUGE because both time periods understood that when the viewer of an ad sees a beautiful, eye appealing person, it makes them want to buy the product that the ad is selling. An analytic difference between the two ads would be that the first ad from the 1950′s had no controversy, while the ad from 2011 had some controversies. Sometimes a controversy is good, but it can also be bad. An example of when a controversy is good is when a product gets its name out there because people continuously bring the name of the product up in conversation. An example of when a controversy can be bad is when people stop buying the product the ad is advertising. Pepsi has been making ads for a very long time and the two that I chose to analyze were perfect examples of being rhetorically effective. They both have examples of Ethos, Logos, Pathos and Kairos. They also have catchy slogans in which will make the average person who is not doing an in-depth analysis over the ads, want to drink a nice cold Pepsi. Personally, I believe the ad from 2011 is more effective because the girl in the ad is real and not just drawn. I also think the ad is more effective because the usage of the blue colors and because of the visual appeals coming from the girl. In conclusion, Pepsi has been very effective when making their product’s ads.

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Podcast

The podcast assignment was actually pretty hard for me. I did not have much of a writing process for this assignment because I had already written my paper and I just had to go off of that to make the script. I started pretty late because I missed two consecutive classes. Because I missed those classes I did not really know how to make the script. I kind of just read up on podcasts and listen to them to get an idea of how to write a podcast script.

While I was reading over my narrative, I figured out the main points and what parts I thought were most important. For my segments I would study one of my paragraphs and take points that I thought needed to be highlighted on and wrote them into my script. Each paragraph was its own segment. With that being said, I have about seven different segments and in the middle of each I have a song playing. 

Writing the script was pretty easy. It took a little while because I was not familiar with writing a script for a podcast, but I eventually got it down. I think my script turned out pretty well. It highlighted all of my main parts that I was trying to get through to the reader. My script was king of sloppy because of all of the notes I had made during the recording process. I was constantly changing words and making it sound better.

Personally, I did not like making a podcast. I did not see much of a point for it. I also do not like my voice, so hearing my own voice kind of sucked. I truly enjoy writing. I can express myself better with writing, whether it is for a paper or if it’s texting. With that being said, I enjoyed writing my literacy narrative, but turning it into a podcast was a struggle for me. I think I will just stick to writing.

For the recording process, I tried using Anchor, but it kept telling me I did not have any internet. Everything else was working on my phone, just not Anchor. So, I eventually had to switch to Podbean. Podbean was not easy to use, at all. I had so many problems with it, and there were only three sounds you could use for it. Now that the deadline for the podcast is moved, I might re-do my podcast with Anchor and re-submit it. I did not like how Podbean sounded, very unprofessional. Update: I remade my podcast with Anchor, and it is much better. Anchor makes it sound a lot more professional, and it was very easy to use.

I am not really happy with the way my podcast turned out. If I do decide to remake it and submit it again, I know I will be. I had already started using Anchor when it crashed, and it was a lot easier to use than Podbean. There was more of a selection for background sounds and music. Everything about Anchor was a thousand times better than Podbean, which is a big reason I want to redo my podcast and re-submit it. Update: I feel proud of my new podcast, like I have said previously, Anchor is much easier to use, it has music that you can add to the “episode” and it sounds professional.

If I could have a total redo for this whole project, I would have started it a lot sooner and I would not have missed two consecutive classes. Those two things that I mentioned would have completely changed the outcome of my project. I do not think I am going to get a very good grade because I did not know what I was doing when making the script for my project, I do not like my podcast and I will not have all of my participation points. Hopefully I am wrong and so in fact get a good grade.

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Literacy and How It Made Me

When I think about being literate, I think about being able to write, read, and process what you have read. While I cannot remember the time or age I became my definition of literate, I can remember loving to read as a kid. I would read anything such as; books, street signs, and when I was old enough, novels. Some of my favorite readings that I can remember throughout my life are Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss, the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, the American Chillers series by Johnathan Rand, 1984 by George Orwell, and Animal Farm also by George Orwell. These books are all books that helped me gain my literacy. While books are a huge part of literacy, my high school papers are also what helped to develop my literacy.

I remember reading Green Eggs and Ham to my little sister Makenzy, me being age seven. We were at her mother’s trailer, in the living room, Dora the Explorer was on the television. Makenzy was bored of watching Dora so she asked me to read a book to her. Of course, she had chosen my favorite book. I loved Dr. Seuss books, but my favorite was Green Eggs and Ham. I read it all the time. I would read it by myself silently, to all three of my little sisters, or just out loud to no one. I believe the biggest reason I loved that book so much was because I identified with Sam. I identified with Sam mostly because I always would try to talk to my dad, but he would just shoo me away to play his video games or to watch football. I did not think of my life in that way as a child, but I grew to understand.

At the age of nine, my mom brought me over to my grandma Nancy’s house. She had just bought the movie Twilight and was watching it for the first time. I started watching it with her and instantly fell in love with it. My grandma proceeded to tell me that there was a whole series behind Twilight. I knew at that moment that I must buy the next book and read it before the movie came out. That week my mom took me to Meijer so I could buy New Moon (the second book in the Twilight series) with my money from Christmas. I read it everywhere I went. I only ever put the book down to shower and sleep. I was a nine-year-old fourth grader reading a book meant for seventh graders. I was very proud of myself at the time. Of course, there were some things I did not understand, like the sexual aspect of the book, but I grasped the concept of it. My grandma bought me the next two books in the series, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. We were both reading the books so it ultimately became our thing. We became, what us Twilight fans called ourselves, Twihards. When the movies would come out in the theater she would take me to the opening night to watch them. We also would stay up all night to go to the release parties at Wal-Mart for the movies. My grandma and I would have constant discussions about the books. It all played a huge part in my literacy today and I have my late grandmother to thank for that.

In fifth and sixth grade, I enjoyed scary stories. I particularly liked the American Chillers books written by Johnathan Rand. I first learned about these books when Johnathan Rand personally came to my school. He was there for a book signing, but he also read to us, a chapter from one of his books. That same day I checked out a book from the series at the school’s library. It was Minnesota Mall Mannequins. It became my favorite book and I read it multiple times. It was about kids that went to a mall in Minnesota after hours and all the mannequins came alive. Because I was a child I was honestly really scared because of the book. The American Chiller books opened a whole new world for me and showed me my love for being scared. I love to watch scary movies and stories. I particularly love to read stories from a page called Creepy Pasta on Facebook. American Chiller books really paved a way the scary side of my literacy because I still love to read scary stories.

Senior year was the year I really decided that I do not like to read anymore. We were assigned two books by George Orwell. One was titled 1984 and the other was Animal Farm. 1984 was about a man who wanted to rebel against his totalitarian society and in the end, he was brainwashed into believing he loved his country. While reading this book, I say reading loosely, I decided reading was just a bore to me. I could not stand reading that story. The words rattled my brain and I always ended up falling asleep. Later in the year, we read Animal Farm, while I still could not stand to read, it was much more interesting. I actually read the book thoroughly instead of reading only a page per chapter like I did for 1984. After the class finished the book we watched the movie version. The movie made me fall asleep more than the book, it was just awful. That goes to show sometimes movies are not better to a visual learner. I believe these books really proved to me that I am not a very enthusiastic reader, which plays a role in my literacy.

I wrote a lot of papers in my high school years. Some of my more memorable papers were from my senior year. During my senior year we wrote a lot of research based papers, so not only did I have to write, I also had to read. That tested my literacy to a huge extent because I had to understand what I was reading and put it all into my own words for the paper. One paper that especially sticks out in my mind, from my senior year English class, was the paper I wrote about wind turbines and why they are better than using gasoline for our energy source. It was undoubtedly the hardest paper I have ever written because I did not know much about wind turbines so I really had to research a lot about them. This all ties in to how these papers truly helped to develop my literacy because I now realize how much I enjoy writing when given a prompt. I especially enjoy proof reading papers and being able to fix mistakes and even re-writing sentences.

Through my lifetime many things have helped to develop my literacy skills. I believe everything I have read, wrote or have been through in life have made me the person I am today. I have a love for writing due to the papers I have written for classes in high school, but I have lost the love for reading that I once had as a child. Although I do not write papers on my free time or without a prompt, I truly enjoy writing for classes like this one. The books that I have read in my life, especially the ones not assigned for a class, have showed me who I am as a person. For example, the book Twilight created a bond between me and my late grandma that could never be replaced. I would not do anything in my life differently and I appreciate everything that made me who I am as a literate person.