Redesign of Advertisement Essay Reflection

Alex Hatala
WRT 150

Mrs. Rinke

11/2/12

Reflection Essay

            When thinking about finding an advertisement and how I would design in, I felt out of my comfort zone when keeping in mind all of the guidelines that this paper had to have. Going into this assignment was challenging because it was something that I've never had to do before. It was a rather lengthy assignment with the use of rhetorical appeals that I wasn't confident in defining in my paper. I knew that this was going to be an essay that I absolutely could not wait until the last minute to do so I made sure to create an outline of everything that I had to include in it and got started right away. As I began to write a few main points of what I was going to include in my paper, I soon realized that this assignment wasn't as bad as I originally intended it to be.

Finding an advertisement was the easy part for me. I spent some time reading through magazines and paying close attention to all of the advertisements until I came across a David’s Bridal advertisement. I tried picking out the flaws that the advertisement had and soon realized exactly how I was going to redesign it and what angle I would take on it to get my main point across. I wasn't looking for any advertisement in particular but I knew I wanted to find a simple one and figure out what I wanted to do with it and write about it. I wanted to find an advertisement geared towards teenagers and older women. I knew that I would have a better chance to figure out what to write about and how I would redesign it to appeal to a different audience.

When it came time to think about how I wanted to redesign my advertisement, it was easy for me to picture it in my mind. I picked a somewhat general topic of talking about the body image of women in today’s society; the definition of skinny and what everyone considers “fat”. My topic of discussion was also something that I related to because I have my own opinions about how society looks at women and men alike and knew that this topic would a good one to write about. I thought about changing the general audience to appeal to men but since my advertisement was geared towards tall, young, skinny models, it occurred to me that it didn't give a good representation of the body size of all women in society. It made me think about how many young teenage girls view that advertisement in a negative light that makes them think badly about their body. It’s important to make an advertisement that equally appeals to a diverse audience which is what I decided to do in my essay.

As I began writing my essay, I faced quite a few challenges. I struggled with figuring out how I should start and end my essay and what I should incorporate in my body paragraphs. I was looking forward to the peer review of our essays in class so that I was able to find what I had missed while writing my rough draft and what information I still needed to include. There were a lot of things that needed to be talked about in this essay and I was mainly worried about not including them in it. I was also mainly worried about the length requirement because I felt like it was a stretch to even get to 5 pages. Organization was another big thing that I had trouble with because I felt like I had too much information that was scattered and not thought out very well. I overcame these challenges by making sure to read over the guidelines multiple times and write a paragraph that corresponded to each of the points. I took everything that my partner told me that I needed to include in my paper as well as helpful hints and applied it to my final draft which helped take some of the stress off of my shoulders.

What I liked most about this assignment was the fact that we got to pick an advertisement of our choosing instead of having one picked for us. I also felt like I learned a lot about the rhetorical appeals and how they are applied in advertisements. I am one to never pay actual attention to advertisements when flipping through a magazine. It was very interesting to find out that so much thought actually goes into an advertisement and that they aren't just slipped into magazines for no point at all. They capture ethos, logos, and pathos and we aren't even aware of them because we’re either just glancing at them or only focusing on the picture. I will use these likes to my advantage because I actually take the time to look at everything that is on an advertisement instead of reading right over it. It’s interesting to identify the general audience of that advertisement and how they make people want to buy their product.

The learning outcomes that I have walked away with were those of being able to define rhetorical appeals and knowing how to look for them and how to incorporate them in current and future essays as well. I only vaguely remember learning these rhetorical appeals a few years ago and having to use them in a paper helped commit them to memory more easily. Committing these appeals to memory is important for me because I know I’m going to need them in the future and continually writing papers with these appeals should help in strengthening that. I also feel that I've learned how to be a better judge of character when focusing on how advertisements appeal to a general audience even if I may not agree with how they capture a wide range of people in today’s society. I feel that I have a clear understanding now of how to look for ethos, logos, and pathos in anything and knowing these appeals are good for a lot of things in life.
                If I were to get a second chance at writing this essay, I would spend more time figuring out the rhetorical appeals in my advertisement. I felt like I went out on a limb to try to think of how these appeals would be put into my essay and it was hard to find ethos, logos, and pathos in the original advertisement as well as in the redesign. I know that my explanations as to how these appeals were in both advertisements weren't well thought out and I know that’s going to bring down my overall grade on this essay. I would also make sure to spend more time brainstorming everything that I would include in my paper as well as actually writing my paper in regards to the deadlines. Finding a different advertisement would have also benefited me since I didn't spend a lot of time looking through magazines and picking out an advertisement that I could use to write this essay.

A Letter to Myself

Dear 9-year old Alex, you struggled in math and you chose to make a terrible mistake that you’re going to regret for the rest of your life. You’re smart and competent and you know way more information than you give yourself credit for. In 4th grade you learned multiplication and the use of times tables. How hard it all seems now but wait until you’re dealing with math mixed in with the alphabet as you go higher in your education. The math gets more hard and confusing and you struggle to pass with even a D. Simple math like long-division, multiplication, everything that you will wish you could be doing when you get to high school and college.

Multiplication is your weak point and you need to study hard and focus. Don’t be scared to ask your parents or teacher for help. Every week you had a test on the multiplication terms that you had learned that week. Oddly enough, you were able to pull off good grades on all of them even though you didn't quite understand most of them. 6x12, 5x4, how much easier can math get? Then comes the final test with a mix of all of the multiplication problems possible from 1-12. I know you felt unprepared, scared, and felt like you weren't going to do well, but you need to work on just doing your best and if you fail, then you fail. If you pass, then you pass.

You made a terrible decision that day that will always been in the back of your mind to taunt you. You disappointed yourself, your parents, and your 4th grade teacher that you looked up to the most. You had made the horrible decision to cheat on that math test and you got caught. Seeing the hurt and disappointed expression on your 4th grade teacher’s face will haunt you for as long as you can remember. He knew that you made a terrible decision but chose not to do anything further than to call your parents and tell them what happened. You cried the rest of the day at school and on your way home. You knew that when you got home you had to deal with your parents. You were upset for weeks and didn't want to even go to school. Just don’t cheat. Simple as that, Alex. You’re better and stronger than that. Cheating is never an option and it is just not worth the pain and the guilt. Your parents will tease you about it well into the future because they won't believe that you could even be capable of something like that and every time, it will feel like you’re being stabbed in the gut.

Never focus on the negative aspects in life, Alex. Don’t worry about failing a test. All you have to do is go home and put in a few hours of studying by yourself or with your parents. Make sure that you know the key concepts of whatever you may be learning in class. Pay attention to your teacher, take notes, and ask questions. I know you’re shy and very quiet but you need to speak up if you don’t understand something. It is so crucial for your education and you need to get over your shyness for the time being and talk to your teacher even if it may be in private. You never turned in a late assignment so not doing your homework was the problem. I know your parents have told you that you need to get straight A’s and nothing less, but you can’t let that run your life. Yes, getting straight A’s is an amazing goal and achievement to have but you just never steep so low as to cheat. Failing is actually a key to success. You try, you fail, you try, and fail, and soon down the line you’ll see that failing actually pays off when you put forth all the effort that you have in order to succeed in life.

You may have thought that you could hide that tiny little calculator under your legs, but that was a very dumb thought and decision. Sure, you could have gotten away with it but what would that have taught you? You don’t learn anything by cheating. How would you feel when you got that test back and saw that you got a 100% but only by cheating? You’ll feel guilty and that you didn't deserve that grade. Cheating is not worth losing the respect of your 4th grade teacher or showing your parents that you’re not trustworthy. You don’t want that one mistake to linger over your head for the rest of your life just because you were afraid of failing. I hope you take my advice into consideration when the mere thought of cheating pops into your little head. You are even aware that you have bad luck and that you can’t get away with most of the things that other kids can. Take that test, try as hard as you can to recall what you've learned, and accept the final grade that you get. You’ll end up with a big old ZERO as your grade anyways if you cheat. Be the strong, smart girl that you are and never think to cheat. Ever.

                                                            Love the old and wise,

                                                                           Alex Hatala   

Literacy Narrative Process Memo

Alexandra Hatala
Mrs. Rinke
WRT 150
10/12/12

Literacy Narrative Process Memo

As I started to think about what I had wanted to write about for my timeline, the most logical place for me to start was how I developed my literacy ability. It came easy to me because I have a very strong visual memory of what I had to endure in order for me to get where I am today. As I was composing my timeline, I made sure to include key points along the way making sure that I included when I read my first book and how I started writing, to learning how to write in cursive. I had no problem remembering specific details. I felt like I had so much that I could have included in my timeline but had to leave a few things out to keep it simple and to the point.

What was interesting about making my timeline on my literacy development is just how much I actually enjoyed reading and writing when I got a hold of things. I loved to write my own books as well as writing passages in journals about my day. I also realized how I became an avid reader at a fairly young age and how I always yearned to read more books. I feel that my most central theme that I followed throughout my timeline was on books. Picking books to be my theme wasn’t difficult to pick because books have always been a big part of my life and I can relate to a lot of instances in my life where books have come into play. Creating this timeline has helped bring forth those memories that I had forgotten about. It made me realize just how big of a part reading has played in my life and how I wouldn’t be where I am today without my ability and love for books.

When working on my literacy narrative choosing an area of focus wasn’t difficult. I thought about how I came to acquire the skills that I have today and the struggles that I went through in order to be able to read and write. I found the literacy narrative easy to jump into because I had a clear idea of what I wanted to take from completing my timeline. Since I didn’t have any music or movies to relate to, I thought that I could spin books and my reading development into my narrative. I was able to organize my narrative in a chronological order that best represented how the years followed after I had finally mastered reading and writing and what I was able to accomplish. I did not need the use of any pre-writing strategies. It was very easy for me to just sit at my computer and let my thoughts flow and I was able to effectively organize my thoughts in a structured manner. After composing my rough draft and going through the peer review process, there weren’t many issues that I had to fix. I added more details and clarified a few things to make it easier to understand. It was very helpful to have another person look over my work.

 I got helpful constructive criticism that greatly benefited the overall outcome of my essay. It’s important to always have someone else read over your work to see if you have any mistakes that you missed and also to give you hints as to how you can make it better so that in turn, you get a good grade on it and will learn things that you can use on your future essays. As I was finishing up the final edits to my literacy narrative, I knew that I wanted to take my struggles of my reading development the main focus of my narrative and turn that into my video. It altered the way that I would have normally written a story in the sense that I had to write about specific details and memories that I had vaguely forgotten about and make sure that the story flowed well together. It was important to keep it to the point and without extra details that didn’t need to be in the story.

While thinking about how I wanted to compose my Animoto slideshow, my partner was very helpful because she had highlighted more than what was asked which helped out immensely. They were well written sentences that helped make the story fit together and made it easy to understand without having to read my narrative. I had chosen seventeen passages for my slideshow because they captured my main points as well as some of the advice I had to offer. With a 52-character limit on each slide, I found it very difficult. I always want to clarify what I’m talking about and add details so that people are able to understand what I am trying to convey in my writing. I had to make sure that the slides were straight and to the point by using short sentences with shorter words.

When using images throughout the slideshow, I made sure to choose pictures that best represented my feelings as a child, complimentary to my text. I made sure to include the books that I’ve learned to read over the years that helped in shaping my overall ability and pictures of young girls who conveyed those feelings well. They were all images that I had found online because I was unable to find any personal photos that best represented my main focus. They truly helped to shape my story because of the sadness and the frustrated emotions that were depicted in my photos. I chose the happy song that I did because even though everyone has their ups and downs in life, it’s always important to look at the positive aspects of things. I thought that it fit nicely with the theme of my video as well. It showed that through my struggles, I was able to persevere and come out on top while moving forward and not becoming a quitter. With the strong dedication that my parents have shown me, it was easy to get back on my feet and finish achieving things at my best.

            While looking back at my video, I wish that I had used personal photos of mine so that I could give a better inside glimpse to my readers as to what it was like if they were actually in my shoes. I feel that it could have made my video more personal to me because of the addition of my own photos. Reading the comments on my video made me feel confident and strong in myself because I know that overcoming any struggle in life is a great accomplishment. It was a great experience to be able to go back in time and touch base on something that has greatly impacted who you are in life today. It made me appreciate my parents even more because they never gave up on me and never will. Love and dedication is a powerful thing and I wouldn’t be where I am today without my parents.

Nissan Leaf Commercial: Negotiated Stance

     The Nissan Leaf commercial was the commercial that I chose. I am taking the Negotiated reading stance of this commercial. I think that this was a great commercial. It shows the impact that the emission of cars has on the environment and it affects every living thing here on earth. It was touching and heartwarming as well because everything makes an impact no matter how big or small it may be. This commercial made me feel that if I bought a “green” car, it would help to save the polar bears and it will also help the earth. Although global warming is considered a controversial topic, I believe that there is some type of “warming” that is happening with the earth that is endangering the lives of the animals that need the cold climate and the ice caps to survive. I believe that this commercial played onto and appealed to the feelings of those people who love animals as well as those who are Eco-friendly and believe that by buying this all-electric car, they will be doing something good for the environment and the animals. By showing that the polar bear had to live in an environment like ours should make people take a step back and try to do what they can to help the planet. Towards the end of the commercial when the polar bear gave the man a hug, it definitely hit a warm spot for me. It showed how grateful the polar bear was that the man was doing something good that would save the polar bear in the end. The only problem with this commercial, I feel, is the fact that it is a foreign car company and also the fact that electric or any type of Eco-friendly car is expensive and definitely out of the usual price range for some people. Despite the few controversies here and there, it should have at least made people actually think about the impact that everyone is making on the earth everyday.

Dustin Anderson: Digital Literacy Summary and Response

I agree with Dustin Anderson's second thought that “Online blogs directed at peers exhibit fewer typographical and factual errors, less plagiarism, and generally better, more elegant and persuasive prose than classroom assignments by the same writers.”  Students are better at writing things that are within their comfort zone and in which they are able to apply themselves truthfully, and with emotion. When writing a general essay or research paper, certain structure and guidelines come along with it which many students, like myself, dread. If an English class was set up in a way that students didn’t have set rules and instructions for how they should write and what they should write about, many students wouldn’t dread writing so much. Since we live in a world where technology keeps advancing, students feel more comfortable in an environment in which they are able to talk among their peers through text message, e-mail, or social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. By taking advantage of these new tools, there is more room for freedom of expression and being able to write what you want, when you want, and have the ability to respond or receive feedback on it. Since there are no set rules or guidelines in which you have to follow, you are able to freely express any opinion you may have on something without the worry of being graded on it. When students are not under the pressure of being graded and making sure that what they have written is ‘perfect’, there is less room for error. Since the opinions/facts are coming straight from the student, there is less plagiarism because if it’s something the student is actually knowledgeable about and/or has a very strong opinion on it, there would be no need to plagiarize. They are able to persuade their readers in a different tone with the freedom they would not get if it was based on a set of guidelines that they had to follow.

Literacy Timeline

   *Kindergarden*- The first book I read was a Thomas the Train book and I had a hard time reading it because I couldn't pronounce the words right and I didn't understand the concept that the words formed into sentences. I would cry every time that I had to read because I just could not understand something that was so weird to me. I would get so frustrated and mad at my parents when they made me read. I thought it was punishment.
   *2nd Grade*- Three Little Pigs Project: Every time that we read a book, we had to make a project out of it. I chose the book The Three Little Pigs and after that, it prompted me to want to keep reading because I loved the idea of making projects every time I read a book. I read an excessive amount of books after that.
   *3rd Grade*- I went through this phase where I started to write my own books for fun. An example of a book I decided to write was called The Ghost Who Lived On Elm Street. It's a very bizzare title, especially for a young girl but that's just what came to mind. Or I just had the misconception that I thought of it on my own, i'm still not sure. I also used to write stories about my friends and I going on various vacations to places like Hawaii and Florida.
   *3rd Grade*- Third grade was also the time where I first started learning how to write in cursive. It was actually pretty difficult for me and I remember having to practice with my parents a lot by using writing practice books. I could not write the letters b,f, and z because they confused me. Looking back, I can't believe that I struggled so much with writing in cursive but we all have our moments.
   *4th Grade*- There were quite a few writing projects that I had to do in school that involved writing Holiday themed stories for my parents. At the time, every single Holiday was my favorite and I made sure to write a story for each of them. My most prized ones would have to be the ones I had written for Halloween and Christmas.
   *5th Grade*- I started to really get into the Harry Potter series especially after seeing the 4th movie. I started watching the movies before I read the books but many of my friends at the time who had read them said that the books are better than the movies and they had many things that the movies didn't have in them. I took those books everywhere and I strongly remember even reading the 2nd book at a restaurant once.
   *7th Grade*- I started to really get into reading books for fun instead of just for something school related. I became an avid reader and had the compulsion to want to read every single book humanly possible. I started another crazy book series called Warriors which to sum it up to a point, was about cats. It sounds really lame now i'm sure, but at the time those were the best books I had ever read.
   *8th Grade*- Since 7th grade, my love for book series grew imensely. I then followed the crazy Twilight bandwagon. I started reading the Twilight series by the end of 8th grade and finished the last book the summer before 9th grade. That kind of fell through after seeing the 1st movie but I still read all the books and have seen all of the movies so far. (Team Jacob!)
   *10th Grade*- I had taken an Honors English class which strongly influenced my writing ability and made me not dread writing papers so much. I developed a strong vocabulary as well as a how to structure my writing well, and I put all of these skills to use every time that I write a paper.
   *11th and 12th Grade*- Because I am following the path to a career in the medical field, from 11th-12th grade I had the ability to be in a Medical Careers program at my school. When enrolled in this program, something called Medical English is the english class that you could take which is what I did. In this class, I got to read a lot of very influential books and wrote an insane amount of essays and book reports and so forth. For 12th grade I was put into an online English class which required a lot of independence and of course, writing, and a lot of reading as well.

*I read at least 2-3 books a month and as for writing, I really only write when I have to :)

Summary and Response: Two Questions by Lynda Barry

Two Questions by Lynda Barry is about a woman who hit a point in her life where she started to second guess herself. She would ask herself two questions: "Is this good?"or "Does this suck?". By second guessing herself, she felt less confident in the work that she did when it came to her writings and drawings. She gained a sort of negative attitude and lost confidence because she felt that no matter what she did, it was never good enough for anyone, not even herself. She goes into more depth about the way she started off her writings and drawings and how those troubling times had made her overcome her feelings towards how she felt about them and in turn, made her a stronger writer and drawer. She stopped caring about other people's opinions and whether her drawings were good or bad and focused on making herself happy so that she could finally enjoy her passion again.

           I feel that I related most to Two Questions by Lynda Barry. I used to always draw and write when I was younger. I used to never care about what anyone thought. Whether my stories were "cheesy" or my drawings looked like those of a 5 year old, it never mattered to me. I then hit a point in my life where I thrived on wondering what people thought about me or what I did. As I got older, I lost my passion for writing and drawing because of it. I became very self-conscious about everything I did. I used to always feel confident, especially when I used to draw, thinking that I was so good at it and that I might actually have the potential to do something with it later in life. The same goes for my writing as well. Unlike Lynda Barry, I've never gotten my motivation to write or draw again. I've stopped writing stories and I've stopped drawing pictures that came from the depths of my imagination. I still end up drawing little pictures in the margins of my notes when I get bored in class but nothing will ever compare to what I was once capable of. Because of this, I think that it's really important to focus on yourself and what makes you feel good and not about what others may think of you or what you're doing. If you put your mind to something and you have confidence in it, you should be proud of yourself and not listen to the hurtful comments or opinions from others.