SWA 6

            Everyday, the lives of American’s are consumed by the constant presence of advertisements. Although they are prevalent, these advertisements are rarely given more than a passing glance. When looking closely at an advertisement, the intentions and projected audience of the product become clear. The advertisements are specifically designed to fit the projected audience’s values in order to effectively sell the product. In my advertisements for lipstick, one ad specifically aims to sell to the glamorous, classy woman, while the second ad sells to a much more average and normal woman.  

SWA 5

Both of my ads were published in the February 2012 issue of Seventeen Magazine. Typical topics that are covered in this magazine are fashion, beauty, fitness, and relationships. Although the title of the magazine is "seventeen", I am 18 years old and I still receive the magazine. I think the magazine has a very wide range of audience from ages 13 to about 30. It's definitely a magazine aimed toward females. All of the relationship advice is geared toward females, and the ads do not advertise any male products. Other products that are normally sold in this magazine are acne medicine and skin care products, all types of make up, clothes, nail polish, shampoo, deodorant, tampons, etc. Based on these things, the publisher assumes that it's readers highly value their physical appearances, and how they appear to the outside world.

SWA 4

Topic Worksheet

1.     I’m analyzing tampon advertisements. These advertisements were found online, but they were both originally placed into magazines.

2.     The audiences for my ads are both very different. For my first ad with just the large white print, the audience intended for younger girls. It doesn’t focus on what type of younger girl, but just targets the teenage girl in general. The second ad targets much more active girls with a wider age range.

3.     Ad 1  -      Made up primarily of large white words

-        Shows the image of a girl driving successfully away in a convertible

-        Includes a statistic

-       Has mostly natural colors (blues, blacks, browns, whites)

-       Small display of tampon boxes in corner

   

              Ad 2    -     Pretty tan brunette girl in white work out clothes

            -     Pink box of tampons

            -     Pink and black words at the bottom

            -     Gray background

            -     Girl is in a forearm stand

       4. I chose these two because they send very differently messages about why you  

should buy the product, when they’re selling the exact same thing. I guess the first ad just shows girl power and is just getting the readers attention, and the second ad is showing how the product allows you to be athletic and amazing. A value that is shown in the first ad is freedom and having fun being a girl, and the second ad shows that a period wont hold you back from what you’re doing with this product. 

SWA 3

            The article I decided to discuss is “Our Prison System”.  This article explains the cruelty that occurs in prison. There are many extremely negative aspects to the prison system. One of the biggest problems is the amount of people we have incarcerated that seems to be way to large. Other problems include the effects of isolation, and sexual and physical assault. I think one of the most important issues that was discussed in this article is the spread of HIV in prisons. If criminals will rape another prisoner in jail, then they will most likely rape someone outside of prison. If these people are contracting HIV in prison, it’s terrible to imagine how many innocent victims are going to get it outside of prison. I feel like this article says that basically, as a country, we’re very blind to the different world that lies within a prison fence. This article made me think a lot. By comparing our prison system to China, it evokes a feeling of nationalism that really helps get the point across.

            The photo that I chose to talk about is figure 2.4 on page 28 in Chapter 2. In this image, a robot machine is shown folding a bed. The quote reads “anti immigration nation: hotels fund robots to replace migrant housekeepers”. I chose this picture because I think it really makes a good point. Instead of giving jobs to real people who are in poverty, we are so concerned with immigrant labor issues that we would rather pay money to make robots do their jobs. I think this picture really shows how ridiculous and caught up in this issue some Americans are. Although there are many illegal immigrants, they do the jobs that many Americans would not do anyways. I think the satirical humor in the picture further emphasizes how silly the hype about the situation really can be. If we could genuinely end illegal immigration, and send all the illegal immigrants back to their home countries, we would then have to figure out what to do in the industries that were run by these immigrants and in the mean time, who knows what could happen. I think there are far more pressing issues in this country, such as the prison problem, the economy, and the environment, and all of those make the illegal immigration issues seem miniscule. 

SWA 2

I think this passage is more relatable than "Is Google Making Us Stupid". The same reasons I didn't like the Google passage are the reasons I like "Get Smarter". I definitely agree with "Get Smarter". The technologies we have today are enhancing our intelligence. Although we may be ADD because of it, it doesn't mean that's necessarily bad. I believe we are better multi-taskers, and that we are respond more quickly to changes in our environments. I think that being so easily inundated in a text or work can be just as negative as getting distracted can be. Since our inability to fully focus coincides with our advancements in technology, the ability to completely focus coincides with the lack of advancement. From that statement I think it is easy to see that, although we are easily distracted, we are also living in ease with rapid information flow. This allows us to lead happy, healthy and productive lives with all the luxuries of the modern era.

SWA 1

Nicole Smith

Professor Mikhaylova

English 102, Section 111

10 January 2012

SWA #1

Experiences in Writing: Choice vs. Assignment

            Ever since I began writing papers, I’ve had many varied experiences in the writing process.  At many times, I have hated my writing experience and had a hard time completing the paper. The papers that seemed the most relentless to me were the ones where the topics were assigned. When I was given a choice on a topic, the papers were easier to complete and more enjoyable. My best writing experience was when I was given an open-ended assignment where I was able to write about something I’m passionate about.

            My best writing experience was my Senior Mastery paper for my final project as a senior in high school. For this assignment, I had to research a topic throughout the entire year, teach a class on it, and present it to a panel of judges. I also had to write a large research paper on it. This assignment took a lot of work, and a lot of research, but I loved it. It was so good because I was able to present anything I wanted. I chose a very abstract concept, and it made the writing process very interested. My paper was titled The Ascetic Appeal of Live Dance vs. Dance in Film. This research was so interesting because there was no information that was directly related to my topic. I had to combine most of my information from a large diversity of sources. I changed my viewpoint several times throughout the paper every time I came across a different source. I think this paper was so exciting because I was so interested in the topic, and because I felt like it would be insightful and refreshing to the reader.

            My worst writing experience was in English 101 when I had to write a review paper on Paradise Lost. The main reason it was so bad was because I had an awfully hard time reading the book. Writing a review on a book that is extremely difficult to understand is terrible. Also, I felt that the topics my teacher gave me were hard to write about and confusing. I did not enjoy the writing experience at all and I’m lucky that I even got a paper written. I ultimately received a decent grade on the paper, but only because I struggled to do my absolute best on it.

            I think that papers are not the best past time in general. Most people would prefer to be doing other things with their spare time than writing papers. Besides this, I have had somewhat enjoyable experiences writing a few papers. Papers in which I’ve been able to openly chose the topic have been much more tolerable than assigned papers. The papers that I’ve been able to write on my own have had the most impact on me due to the valuable information I learned while researching them. I hope to have more papers like that in the future.