I thought the blogs were a great part of this class. Considering our class is on new media, I think it pertains to our course pretty well. The blog topics usually dealt with what we were doing in class, and I never felt like they were busy work. They seemed to contribute to either our writing or preparing/editing writing.

I don't really care about turning things in over the blog or during class, but I'd rather have it just be one than both. No preference on which. Blog posts seem more difficult to remember but paper is more of a hassle.

I enjoyed reading peer's blogs. They seem less formal than normal assignments and I felt like the class sorta bonded over them. I think people actually put effort into the responses rather than "good job!" I enjoyed reading other's posts and seeing how our posts were the same and varied. Overall, I'd keep the blogs. They were one of the most enjoyable parts of the class (not that there are really any parts that I didn't enjoy.)

Alright, for my analysis post I chose the website hankforsenate.com. I originally thought that a website devoted to a cat to be elected to the US senate was immediately ineffective, but their design has changed my mind...

Contrast: This is probably the only part of the page that is lacking. Things that are important don't really stand out. The pictures dominate the homepage, and also the title of the page, but other than that nothing really pops out.

Color: Very patriotic colors. They fit what they are trying to represent well. The white on blue text makes the words seem bold and important.

Alignment: Everything is properly aligned here. The title is center aligned, but I think it is needed to create a boldness. The blog post by Hank is left aligned, which is also appropriate as well. Pictures are assorted with tabs that support and make sense with the pictures.

Proximity: The best part of this page. Pictures do not intermingle with text and everything stays within it's own boundaries. Each part of the page has a distinct section that are separated by dividers.

Repitition: The Patriotic color scheme and theme is repeated thoroughly throughout the page. The background picture is patriotic, the title is patriotic, even the pictures of cats have a slight sense of patriotism to them. The text is the same font throughout the page.

Hankforsenate.com has convinced me. Hank For Senate 2012.

1. The way I solved my length issue was quite simple really (with some help from Natalie). I identified the weakest points in my paper (my counter-argument and solution) and simply expanded on those. By expanding on those, I was able to introduce new ideas that weren't stale or overused, and it also allowed my personal opinion to come into the paper a bit more, rather than expert opinion.

Four effective websites:

mormon.org

lds.org

yahoo.com

reddit.com (simple, but I like it)

Four ineffective websites

hankforsenate.com

drunkronswanson.com

I hate to say this, but byu.edu... Not the most simplistic layout.

supervideo.com

Patchwriting

“We do not in everyday life reflect much on how one people’s ‘myth’ may be another people’s religion or episteme. What ‘we’ label ‘myth’ from other cultures then translates into the ‘that’s just a myth!’ formula that implicitly sustains the value of our own beliefs. Thus trivialized—though in different ways—both outside and within Western culture, ‘myth’ in common English-language usage today is the object of exoticizing amusement or dismissal; it is deprived of its associations with history, knowledge, and vision—what has made myth culturally valuable and has most fascinated scholars of myths and traditional narratives” (Bacchilega 25).

According to Bacchilega, the definition of myth has become completely skewed. What may be one man's myth, may be another's treasure (or personal values). Myth has become less and less about the cultural background, and more about the "fanciful beliefs" of "outsiders."

And the biggest thing I've struggled with on my Issues Paper is simply length. It's difficult to write an 8-10 page paper without feeling like you're repeating or dragging on. I've tried doing deeper research, but most of it I feel like I've explicitly stated. I'd love your help!

The library mainly taught me one thing on Monday: I'm an awful researcher. The BYU library offers so many services that I quite honestly had no idea about. Often, as I go through google, I end up frustrated as I can find only Wikipedia articles. The databases that BYU library provides give academic article after academic article. This will make papers MUCH more credible. Plus, the library chat function always seemed like a gimmick, but after yesterday it seems like a function that could help quite a bit. The Opposing Viewpoints website seems like it will be the most helpful, considering it deals with extremely kairotical issues.

I do, however, have concerns about my topic. Because the topic of SOPA is fairly recent, I find that scholarly articles and other credible sources are hard to come by. I'm confused as to how I can find credible sources for such a kairotical issue. Overall though, the library was very informative and I find that future research papers will be much less stressful.

Issues Paper Proposal

The second I learned about this paper, I knew what I'd like my topic to be: SOPA. SOPA is the recent bill congress is trying to pass that will in essence destroy any user-created media content. The main premise behind the law is to stop piracy and protect copyright laws on the internet. Essentially, SOPA would create an internet without websites like Youtube, Reddit, and streaming websites. It would also drastically change the way search engines like Google run as well.

My initial stance on the subject is to reject the bill. This bill changes the way the whole structure of the internet. No longer can people upload videos that have copyrighted items in them. No longer can people stream videos of themselves involving music or other videos that have been copyrighted. No longer can Google or other search engines link to other websites. I understand that the intentions behind this bill (to stop illegal piracy) are noble, but I think the way they've gone about it has been almost inhumane. Another reason I chose this topic is because of the corruption in Congress lately. I've been fairly disappointed with our Congress's actions lately, and I feel SOPA is just a result of lobbying by higher-ups at music and media companies.

My main research questions will be "How exactly will SOPA affect the internet?" and "Why are some companies so wholeheartedly supporting this?" I want to get a better sense of why what seems like such an outrageous bill has support.

20 Things

-SOPA/PIPA

-Republican GOP elections

-Greatest tennis player ever

-Movie Rating System over time

-Progression of Music

-legality of downloading music

-Which internet program is best (chrome, IE, firefox, etc.)

-cell phone usage

-Golf without Tiger Woods

-Apple's undying product pushing

-Chips Ahoy cookies: Chewy or Original?

-Black History Month

-Sleep habits

-Illegal recruiting for college athletics

-Cancellation of NASA

-BCS or playoff system?

-Dating of the 21st century

-The emergence of dubstep

-Corruption of U.S. Congress/government

-Voter Fraud

The three things I took away from peer reviews were:

1. Expand my analysis. I need to go further into analysis and less summary.

2. Focus my analysis on specific audience. I talk about the purpose of the author often, but not the audience.

3. Clarify which rhetorical tool I'm speaking of. I often have two tools within one paragraph.

Aaaaand, movies?

Don't laugh.

1. Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

2. Happy Feet

3. Meet the Robinsons

"Luuuuuuuucille! I have arrived at our place of dwelling!" shouted Ricardo.

(I decided to take an actual clip of I Love Lucy and interpret it.)

"Come, come!" Ricardo rather impatiently repeated.

Lucille reluctantly walked forward, leaving Ricardo in suspicion.

"What could possibly be such the matter?" he so lovingly muttered.

"My love, if we're going to attend such a cordial ball, there must be such a dignified presence about us. We must stand at least an armslength apart." Lucille sheepishly stated.

"To Tango? Lucille, if we're ever going to perform such a dance, it is in the style of such a dance."

With a power and force akin to a boarish mule, Ricardo took hold of her hand.

With the grace of a boar however, Lucille returned the favor.

"Come! Let us finish!" said the impatient Ricardo.

And with one final twirl and tug, Lucille's fate was sealed. Not only sealed, but soaked. The horror in Ricardo's eyes was palpable. The eggs had hatched.

Here's the youtube clip where I took it from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr7jcdqIi08&feature=related

Can't say I've read much Jane Austen, but I did my best!

Similes

This was way more difficult than I thought it would be.

1. The thought of you makes my face twitch like a 9.0 magnitude earthquake.

2. He kissed her lips like they were the last envelope to lick in a stack of 100 thank you cards.

3. Her promise to her missionary was like the kiddie end of a pool, shallow and full of urine.

4.The line for the DMV was out the door, like Walmart at 4:00 on Valentine's Day.

5. Love is like peeing your pants, everyone can see it but only you can feel the warmth. (I know everyone has heard this, but I love it so much. :D)

I'm sure you guys have much funnier ones!

3 Letters

Dear Judge,
As I was driving yesterday, I happened to make the mistake of going over the speed limit. I wanted to apologize for my actions. As it is my fourth ticket of the month, I will likely have my license revoked. As I was headed to my weekly visit to read to underprivileged children, I mistook the speed limit of the road by 5 MPH. I truly apologize. My actions were not out of blatant spite, but out of pure and honest mistake. I understand I am not above the law and my actions deserve punishment, but please show some mercy. If my license is revoked, I will not be able to make my weekly shift at the soup kitchen, recatalog the library shelves, and bring joy to the elderly. I respect you and your decision, however. Thank you for taking the time to read this and consider what I have said.
Sincerely and apologetically,

Jeff Wray

Dear Mommy,

The underprivileged kids love the books you sent! I've read them Clifford hundreds of times. Not much else is new here. School is just more easy A's. I'm dating a girl and you should have grandchildren by the end of the year! Oh, something did happen though. I got a minor speeding ticket on my way to read, but it seems like nothing. The judge might even let me off. No need to worry, your son is safe and it'll all work out. Let me know how the scrapbook turned out!
With so much love,

Jeff

Homies!

We've got a problem. I got ANOTHER ticket, and this one could mean the end of my license. I know you all love our weekly In-n-Out runs, so I'd love it if you guys could help me out. I'd forever be grateful. I was just a bit over the limit on my way to the library, the policeman seemed biased and unfair. We all know how power-hungry policeman can get. Please help me out, guys. If we all band together, I think we can take down the man and his system. We can fight!

Thanks so much,

Jeff

I loved Natalie's use of a facebook status as a found poem, so I was determined to find a facebook status of my own to make a found poem. I think I finally found one.

That moment

(when you're indexing some names from WWI)

and

you come across the name

Oscar Meyer

but

then you go to Wikipedia

and

realize

this name couldn't

possibly be

the famous

Oscar Meyer

Dang.

Hahaha I realize it's not the most poetic topic, but I had fun doing it.

The Perils of Google

The article I chose to reread was "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" by David Carr. I actually really enjoyed it and felt somewhat similar to the author.

Questions:

1. I think the author's intent with this one was to raise a question in our heads. His writing provokes us to think and analyze our own lives to see if the internet has "rewired our brains." I think his writing does a great job of raising the reader's curiosity levels.

2. I loved the author's use of framing by starting and ending with the example from Space Odyssey. I think it really tied together the piece and made you reflect on what you had read. I even turned back to the first page to find the similarities between the two. Very effective. I also loved his analogy and simile on the second page: "Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a jet ski." Not only does it illustrate his point, but it provides amazing imagery. He also does quite a bit of counterarguing, which really raises his credibility.

3. I think the audience's reaction to this article is exactly what the author intended it to be: to raise our curiosity. I don't think a reader could walk away from this paper without first reflecting on whether or not their reading habits had changed and whether it was due to the internet or not. I thought the article was extremely effective, as it made me skeptical of the internet molding my brain.

Blog Assignment #1

Fallacy:

In the recent Republican debate, Newt Gingrich got into a battle with Mitt Romney over taxation. Newt claimed that Romney raised taxes while governor of Massachusetts, but Romney in rebuttal claimed that he lowered taxes 19 times. I follow the presidential election pretty closely, so I decided to look further into it. Turns out both were technically right. While governor of Massachusetts, Romney lowered income taxes, he also significantly raised taxes on corporations. Romney slashed income taxes, but also raised taxes by $140 million in one year on businesses. So both had "half-fallacies" in their argument. (edit: sorry, forgot to include which type) Both are using examples of "stacking the deck". Both are ignoring information that is harmful to their campaigns, but broadcasting information that strengthens it. Sounds similar to a lot of politics these days.

Pathos/Logos/Ethos Analysis:

Pathos: I think right off the bat, Mr. Collins plays the pathos card. "Believe me, my dear Miss Elizabeth, that your modesty adds to your other perfections." I think this is a clear example of flattery. He is trying to "bribe" his way into her heart. Another example is "For, as almost as soon as I entered the house, I singled you out as the companion of my future life!" He is also using flattery here, as he is attempting to make her feel singled out and the she alone is the one he wants to marry, raising her self esteem.

Ethos: He establishes his personal authority with the sentence "First, I think it a right thing for every clergyman to set the example of matrimony in his parish." He acts as if clergyman is a highly important position, and claims to be very informed on the subject of marriage. Not only does he use personal authority, but he brings outside authorities in to help strengthen his argument. Mr. Collins states "I should have mentioned first, that it is the particular recommendation of my noble patroness Lady Catherine de Bourgh! "Mr. Collins", she said, "you must marry". This use of an outside source makes it seem as if he is not alone in his quest to gain Miss Elizabeth's hand in marriage.

Logos: Mr. Collins also uses a heavy dose of logos throughout his argument. Mr. Collins states "My dear cousin, being, as I am, to inherit all this estate after the death of your father, I could not satisfy myself without resolving to choose a wife from among his daughters." He claims it is only logical to marry one of the daughters, as their father has gifted him so much. In a sense, he thinks it is logical to "repay" him. He also states "My dear Miss Elizabeth, my situation in life, my connection with the noble family of de Bourgh, are circumstances highly in my favour." He is attempting to make the claim that he is well off enough to provide the level of happiness necessary for Miss Elizabeth.

Wanted to add my get to know you in here as well!

I'm an 18 year old, born in Naperville, Illinois. I spent most of my first 10 years there, but moved to Denver, Colorado at age 11 and have been there ever since. I'd like to think I'm a pretty chill person, I like almost anything. I hope to leave for my mission in August of this year! My hobbies include skiing, tennis, golf, basketball, and frisbee. I'm currently an undecided major, but I'm pretty sure I'll be going into an economics degree. For some strange reason, I love following the stock market and have been investing since age 12. If you ever need insider trading, I'm your man. I'm actually not opposed to writing, but I wouldn't call what I have talent. I love to learn, I love to smile (dorky, I know) and I love getting to know new people, so feel free to say hi anytime you see me!