TOW #22: GLAD Advertisement for Plastic Wrap

(http://webtoolfeed.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/creatiw41.jpg)

GLAD is a famous brand that is well-known for its sturdy food containers, trash bags, and plastic wraps. The advertisement for its plastic wraps consists of a quarter of a watermelon on a single white plate. But inside the watermelon is no watermelon, but raw meat. That is disgusting; but then what is the purpose of this picture?

In order to emphasize the effectiveness of GLAD's plastic wraps, it shows raw meat inside of a watermelon. This is to show that watermelons that sit out without GLAD's plastic wraps end up tasting like "meat" or something rotten. On the bottom right corner is says, "Let it taste the way it should...". This means that a watermelon should taste like a watermelon: sweet, juicy and delicious. It should not taste like "meat". But if one uses GLAD's plastic wraps, food will stay fresh and delicious. Otherwise, the food will rot and taste like something it is not supposed to.

This advertisement is very intriguing because it makes people think. It is not direct about what it is trying to say. Instead, one has to look at it closely and analyze its possible message. If the message was stated directly, would it be as effective? The indirect message makes the advertisement more interesting and mysterious, which is eye-catching to the audience.

This advertisement is believable because it is created by a credible source: the company GLAD itself. On the bottom right corner of the advertisement, it shows the plastic wrap product from GLAD. This shows that GLAD created this advertisement, and since GLAD created this, it makes their argument valid and supported.

Effective advertisements does not have to be convoluted pictures. A simple picture may be more effective, even if it is just a watermelon with meat in it. And this advertisement demonstrates that wonderfully. It uses an effective image and credibility to convince the audience to buy their products.

TOW#21: article "Cruelty of the aquarium exposed in killer whale documentary 'Blackfish'"

Killer Whales are not Killers

On February 24th, 2010, an Orca named Tilikum killed its trainer, Dawn. There was no violence intended. It was merely out of play. However, there are some cases where these captivated animals go mentally insane and intentionally hurt people. But why? Places such as Sea World in Disney World and Aquariums around the world mistreat their animals.

How do are these animals obtained? They certainly aren't taken nicely. They are first captured in large nets into boats. Then they are kept in enclosed, dark sections for several days alone. Finally, they are taken to be trained. These animals are forced into do silly tricks for the purpose of amusing the public. These animals are tortured and neglected for the sake of entertainment. How is this justified?

Orcas, for example, are one of many animals that are trained. They are known to be very gregarious. So being trapped in a small enclosed space makes them go crazy. A documentary called "Blackfish" came out in 2010, which depicts what really happens behind the scenes of these "fun" amusement parks. The documentary shows that these Orcas have never attacked people in the wild. Thus, this proves that it is the imprisonments that make them go crazy.

There is definitely an appeal to pathos. People are grown to adore these Orcas because they are beautiful, lively creatures. Seeing documentaries such as these, people would feel guilty for ever going to an aquarium and stand against these places. The documentary brings a lot of sadness, regret, and pity. This could potentially cause people to boycott against these aquariums in order to save these animals. This reaches out to advocates of animal freedom.

Will Sea World ever close down, probably not. However, it is crucial that this truth was revealed to the public because then someone somewhere will be aware of this and possibly try to do something about it. This article was very informative of how manipulative these places are. These places try to make the public believe that these animals are treated with great care, which is a lie. When will animal cruelty end?

(http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/cruelty-of-the-aquarium-exposed-in-killer-whale-documentary-blackfish-8733758.html)

TOW#20: Visual

Reading Goal- My reading goal is to pick an appropriate visual and find important rhetorical devices that explain the purpose of the visual. I also hope to analyze the rhetorical devices well and tie it back to the thesis.

People Are Not Robots

More than 40,000 people die from car crashes every year. The main cause is drunk driving. Many people disregard the fact that drunk driving is extremely dangerous. So how can they receive the message? BMW, a luxurious car brand known by many, creates an advertisement about drinking and driving. Car crashes have been more frequent than they used to be so BMW wanted to get its message out to the world.The advertisement encourages people not to drink and drive and to show how serious it is, and the advertisement makes use of many rhetorical devices, such as pathos, ethos and implications to show it.

For starters, the first thing that may jump out at the audience is the picture of two legs, one real and one not real. This appeals to pathos because it allows the audience to have pity for people with disabilities. The advertisement used this picture to show that human parts are not as easily replaceable as car parts. This picture shows that even though this person replaced his leg with another, it is not the same. Therefore drunk driving is dangerous because it causes loss of one’s limbs. BMW convinces people to not drink/drive by driving fear into the people of the loss of irreplaceable body parts.

There have been so many advertisements about drinking and driving. But why is this one the most effective than the others? BMW created it. BMW is a famous car brand that has a lot of credibility. Since this expensive car brand mentions a serious topic, people will pay attention. Thus, this advertisement appeals to ethos. If the advertisement were not sponsored by BMW, would it be as effective and credible? Since the car brand is admired, it is very influential. Hence, BMW exhibits that drinking and driving is a serious matter by showing that they are serious about it as well.

The advertisement does not go on explaining an entire paragraph about why not to drink and drive. Instead, it simply writes, “Spare parts for humans are not as original as those for cars. Don’t drink and Drive.” This implies that replacing a car part would be unnoticeable, however, replacing a human part will not be exactly as what it used to be. This also implies that people need to take care of their bodies, since they are not replaceable means. BMW emphasizes the value of human limbs by contrasting a replacement of a human body part and a car part.

Drinking and driving is not something to take lightly and BMW thinks that too. Since it is a well-known car brand, the brand is effective in creating this advertisement because people will pay attention to what they say. It appeals to pathos, ethos, and has strong implications to portray the message that human body parts are irreplaceable. Like BMW states, do not drink and drive at the cost of your limbs.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_rIvVmychsw8/S4XL1_gpQxI/AAAAAAAAKh8/PQ_9_KPNAkk/Meaningful%20advertisements%202.jpg

TOW#19: IRB "The Nazi Officer's Wife" by Edith Hahn Beer

Safe Is Not So Safe

Elie Wiesel is a famous author known for his memoir, "Night". He wrote about his life during the Holocaust; He describes the torture and the devastation he went through with his father. However, a woman named Edith Hahn Beer, who was also Jewish, went through the exact opposite of what he went through. Yet, she was just as terrified. Beer writes her story in "The Nazi Officer's Wife", and shows that life was actually still terrifying even though she was "safe" by appealing to ethos and using descriptive diction.

Beer appeals to ethos by retelling a true story about herself in order to make herself more credible to the audience. This book is a true story in her perspective about the horrible things that she had to go through during the Holocaust. Because this story is true and in her perspective, she is more credible rather than a person writing about her. If another person had written about her, the readers would think that the author changed a few details here and there to make the story more interesting. But this story is told from the primary source. The readers are, therefore, able to believe Beer and be more engaged with the story. Thus, the readers are more fascinated that all these events in the story are true. 

Beer also uses descriptive diction in order to add detail into her writing to make it sound interesting. She talks about the terrible ride to Munich by saying, “I murdered the personality I was born with and transformed myself from a butterfly back in into a caterpillar. That night I learned to seek the shadows, to prefer silence”. This shows that she was a different person now. By stating "I murdered the personality" shows that she has gotten rid of who she used to be and became a different person; But not in a good way. She also says that she "transformed myself from a butterfly back in into a caterpillar", which also shows that she is now in hiding and in the process of becoming a different person. By using descriptive diction such as "murdered", "transformed", "butterfly" and "caterpillar", she is able to imply her feelings without being banal and too straight-forward, which would not sound as intriguing. 

Beer was able to avoid the torturous Holocaust that many people went through, by meeting a non-Jewish man who promised to keep her identity a secret. However, she lived in fear everyday, fear that she might be caught. Ultimately, she managed to stay hidden for the rest of the Holocaust. Yet, she writes a book about how terrified she was despite her luckiness by appealing to ethos and using descriptive diction. 

TOW#18: A Boy Saw A Classmate Getting Horribly Bullied. It’s What Happened 4 Years Later That Made Me Cry

            Just Say "Hello"

          The hardest thing to do is the easiest thing to do. An inspiring but untrue story tells of a boy named Kyle who is bullied. He carries multiple books to and from school and a bully always knocks them down and calls him a nerd. One day, a classmate sees this and goes up to help him when no one else did. Many others may have avoided to help Kyle because they were afraid that they might look like a “loser”. Little did the classmate know that Kyle was on his way home to kill himself that night. But the classmate saved him. In this short anecdote, the author appeals to ethos and uses suspense to show that good deeds have greater outcomes than one would imagine.

            The author appeals to ethos by speaking in first-person to show his credibility towards the story and show a more emotional insight to the character. It says, “As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him.” This shows how the character felt and the reasons for him going up and helping him. By speaking in first-person, the reader is able to understand the character’s feelings better and have empathy, rather than if it said, “He felt this, so he did this.” Speaking in first-person also makes the story more believable and touching. Thus, the author's first-person perspective gives the story more of a personal feel and credible. 

            The author uses suspense in order to lure in the reader’s attention to make the story more exciting. During graduation, as it states in the story, the character, Kyle, says,  “‘I am going to tell you a story’.” By saying this, the audience can predict that he is going to talk about how he was bullied and his encounter of his first friend. But since he says “story”, the reader is able to predict that there is more to the story than the first time they met, which is true. Kyle goes on and talks about how he was on his way home to kill himself, but one person helped him from the bullies, which ultimately saved his life. This shows that by using suspense, the author is able to grab the reader’s attention and give more to the reader than they were expecting.

            This was not a true story. But then why would the author write it? Bullying has become a serious issue and many people have been ignoring this fact. Therefore the author decides to write a story with a moral, which is that good deeds have greater outcomes than one would expect. He shows this by appealing to ethos and using suspense. A simple “hello” can save someone’s life.  

Picture used for the story 

(http://avmediastudio.com/blog/a-boy-saw-a-classmate-getting-horribly-bullied-its-what-happened-10-years-later-that-made-me-cry/)

TOW#17: Teen Pregnancy Advertisement

(http://aapci.org/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/teen-pregnancy-ad.jpg)

Teen Pregnancy is Not Cool

"16 and Pregnant" and "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" are television shows that depict the possible lives of being a teenager with a child. However, these shows tend to show that being a pregnant teenager is manageable. This causes people to forget the consequences of having a child at such a young age. Also, it is not only the teenagers that suffer from the pregnancy but it is also the child who suffers as well. This advertisement (shown above) describes how children with teen parents are not likely to graduate high school. The advertisement appeals to pathos and uses bolded words in order to show that teen pregnancy is ruinous to the future of a teenager's child.

The advertisement appeals to pathos by its use of a picture of a crying baby. The crying baby brings a sad emotion to the audience. If the advertisement did not include the picture, people would most likely walk past the advertisement without even taking a glance at it. The first thing people would see as they walk past this advertisement is this crying child. This would cause them to wonder why the child is crying. Then they would read the text on the advertisement to see what it is about, allowing them to see the facts of teen-pregnancy. The crying child catches a person's eye and cause the audience to sympathize for the child. The picture of the advertisement also may influence possible teenagers who decide to make poor choices in the future. This picture on the advertisement brings out guilt, thus making the picture effective for the advertisement. 

The advertisement also uses bolded words in order to emphasize the key words in the advertisement. The bolding of the words, "not", "high school", and "teen" makes it simple for the audiences to understand the main point of this picture. If the words were not bolded, people would probably be too lazy to read the entire text. The bolded words summarize the main idea and cause others to want to read it more since the words are bolded, showing a sign of importance. The bolded words stand out; it is the first person the audience would see right after the picture of the sad baby. Also, the use of bold words are found in the bottom of the advertisement where it says, "KIDS OF TEEN MOMS ARE TWICE AS LIKELY NOT TO GRADUATE THAN KIDS WHOSE MOMS WERE OVER AGE 22." This was also to emphasize that it is teenager mothers that risk a child's chance of graduating high school, not adult mothers. This shows that being a teenage mother is very risky and immoral to the child being born. Ultimately, the bolded words emphasize the important texts of the advertisement so that the audience reads the key elements of the text. 

Was this advertisement necessary? Do people not know that teenage pregnancy is wrong? People are beginning to forget the negative outcomes of teenage pregnancy. This advertisement was a reminder and a "heads-up" about how teenage pregnancy affects more than one person. The advertisement brilliantly conveys this idea by appealing to pathos and using bolded words. 

IRB Intro: "The Nazi Officer's Wife" by Edith Hahn Beer

This is a memoir about a woman named Edith who is a Jew living during the Holocaust. She lies about her identity to keep herself from getting persecuted. She meets a man named Werner, a member in the Nazi party, who falls in love with her and promises to keep her identity hidden. Will Edith survive?

I chose this book because I wanted to read about other perspectives of the Holocaust than from Elie Wiesel. I think this book will be really interesting because this woman is not living a horrible life, since she lies about her identity. But will she be living peacefully even after that?

I hope to gain more insight into the troubling days of the Holocaust. Because of this book, I get to see a whole other side of this time period. I can't wait to read it!