A letter to future students

Dear future 110 students,

If you're reading this, chances are you're just starting your first English course. You may be wondering what lies ahead in this course. I'm not going to give away all the specifics, but I will tell you that it's nothing you can't handle. The work is very manageable, and the blogs are a nice change from writing essays. There will be one large paper, however you literally have half of the course to write and revise it. The only advice I would give you to succeed in the course is this: read and write. It's as simple as that. All of the powerpoints Karen has are very informative and helpful. If there is anything you don't know how to do, chances are it's explained in them. As for writing, start early and stay on top of it. I found myself often pressured to write because of how long I put off the assignments. Simply start writing early and you won't have this problem. Now I'm not saying you have to finish your essay two weeks early. Simply sit down once every day or two and write for a little bit, even if it's just a paragraph. You'll be thanking yourself later for it, trust me. Overall, though, this class is fairly equivalent to high school. If you put in the time you will receive a good grade. I wish you the best of luck in this course.

Sincerely,
A successful English student

If Technology Was On Facebook, We Would Be "It's Complicated"

If I had to compare technology to one thing in this world, it would be the box of chocolates I recieved for Valentines Day. At first I was elated; it was like Christmas morning and I couldn't wait to dig in! I quickly threw the handy road map of the box that was included into the trash. After all, who doesn't like to test their luck in choosing a piece? But as I began to dig into the box, carefully selecting each piece to try, I was greeted with a mix of delight in horror. Some pieces were filled with delicious cremes and fruits, while others with the less appealing coconut and caramel so chewy I think I lost a tooth. There was even one that was filled with something so strange, I can only assume it was a cruel joke by a factory worker. In the same way, I believe technology is like a box of chocolates. There are some things I could absolutely not live without. The first things that come to my mind would be my computer, my iPod, my cell phone (no, nothing super high-tech like an iPhone, just a phone), and all of my recording equipment. If you're wondering what I mean when I say recording equipment this includes: my interface, used to plug instruments into my computer; Logic Studio 9, one of the best music programs on the market; my mixer; and of course my midi keyboard, used for synth sounds as well as beats. All of these, to me, enhance my life without totally taking it over. Then we get to what I refer to as the bad chocolates. While the internet can be a very helpful place, there are also many negative sides to it. I've included this handy graphic I made to illustrate my point.



Not everyone you meet or everything you see on the internet is totally trustworthy. There are people out there that will deceive you. Whether it be someone setting you up on a date, or a fact on wikipedia, you should always be weary. But even beyond the internet, I believe we are relying too much on technology as of late. Most people wouldn't even be able to do the simplest of math without a calculator. Others would be completely lost without their GPS or phone book. I worry that someday we will totally rely on technology to get through our day, and I'm not sure how people will get by if we ever lose it. So even though I love having my coffee ready when I wake up, I take pride in knowing I'll still be able to make it the day my machine goes on the fritz.

Kobe who?

After the Cavs upset the Lakers for the second time this season last night, I thought this commercial would be appropriate.



The previous commercial aired on Thanksgiving 2008 to promote the release of Lebron James' new shoe, the Nike Zoom VI. Though lacking in dialogue, I believe it's very successful in drawing the viewer in and getting Nike's point across. To demonstrate this point, I'll show how it appeals to each of the three central points of rhetoric. The most obvious would be the use of ethos. Lebron is the third most known athlete in sports today. He has taken the Cavs from one of the worst teams in basketball to a title contender. However, if that isn't enough for you, the likes of international superstar Lil Wayne can also be seen in the video. I believe this use of ethos can then be related to the logos. One might think, if Lebron is wearing these shoes and he’s an amazing basketball player, I could be just as good if I wore them too! Although we all know this fact isn’t true, most people will still believe they’ll have some added athletic advantage if they wear his shoe. But not only is Lebron playing in the shoe, they also show a female high school athlete performing at a high level wearing them. Finally, the commercial may influnce one’s pathos through the use of the talcum powder throw. Everyone in the video is tossing up powder, no matter where they are, and they’re excited about it. The trademark throw by Lebron alone is enough to evoke emotion in most sports fans. By influencing your emotions and getting you excited about the shoe, along with a little help from Lebron, Nike hopes to persuade you into buying their product.

Primary Source Ideas?

I thought this was a really interesting way to advertise a new product. All of the visual aspects really draw you into their new "trailer". Microsoft perfectly portrayed the typical shooter/action movie, while incorporating a lot of different aspects relating to their product. The thing I was most impressed with was their use of puns in the storyline of the movie. I also thought it was funny how they incorporated their signature talking paperclip to lighten the mood of the whole commercial. This could definitely trick the unsuspecting viewer into believing it really is a movie trailer.



My other option was a more lighthearted video poking fun at the internet. Although I typically don't listen to country music, I found this song and video to be very entertaining. The lyrics are centered around someone pretending to be a celebrity online. Which, as anyone knows, is very common these days with the anonymity of the internet. The music video is also very funny, depicting the typical nerdy figure we'd think of. Overall, a great way to portray one aspect of the internet.

Blog Prompt 1: And......GO!

Fred R. Bernard once said, "One Picture is Worth Ten Thousand Words," but could the same be said for an Ipod? With this in mind, I decided to turn on my iPod and discover what I could about myself. The first thing that caught my attention were the variety of playlists I made that wouldn't make sense to the average person. Two in particular that caught my eye were titled: "Run it!" and "What's good Empire State?!." It might be pretty apparent that the "Run it!" playlist is what I listen to on my daily runs. However, it might not be as obvious that "What's good Empire State?!" was made for a snowboarding trip to New York earlier this month. After cycling through my playlists it became pretty apparent that I wasn't going to be able to sort through the 7,000+ plus songs and analyze all of the artists I passed. Instead, I did the next best thing and threw shuffle on to do it for me. The first five artist that came up were: John Mayer, Brighten, Patrick Watson, MGMT, and Jay-Z. I think that John Mayer and MGMT show that I have a pretty mellow side, which I enjoy listening to when I'm relaxing or studying. On the other hand, Brighten and Jay-Z show that I'm also very social and outgoing. Chances are you've also heard Jay-Z one too many times if you've ever been to a party at Ohio State. Patrick Watson is the one random artist that really threw me for a loop, though. I've only listened to his song once, but it was the weekly download at Starbucks. If you're like me and you drink way too much coffee on a daily basis, pick up the weekly song. Who knows, you may just find something new you like! The next thing worth noting on my iPod, was the Nike+ chip connected to it. For those of you who don't know what it is, it connects to your shoe and shows you all types information like run time, splits, miles, and calories burned. The 500 and some random miles logged also show that I'm fairly athletic. And at this point in my summary my iPod decided to die, so I decided my self-analysis was complete.

Looking back at the paragraph I just wrote, nothing really stands out at me. I like to work out and snowboard, go to the occasional party, or sometimes enjoy a cup of coffee with some mellow indie music. In other words, the typical, generic information anyone could uncover about someone after spending 30 seconds on their Facebook. You can only find the slightest hint about someone's personality, or what they enjoy doing in their spare time. In other words, looking through someone's iPod may be a good place to start, but there's no substitute for spending time with someone if you really want to see their true personality.