Topic Proposal

Topic: Poverty and Malnutrition in Africa

Media: Website, Youtube video, and Trip Description

Proposal: To create and organization on the University of South Carolina's campus that will take one week long trip to one stable African country per year during the summer break months. Cost would be minimal and the University would provide some financial assistance to take the trip. Number of students would be between 20-30 and the organization would collect money for the trip during the school year with collections to provide food for the areas the students visit.

Changes in My Ad

I believe the TV ad I produced and ok’d is a great ad. I think we just need time to broadcast it and have more people view it. This ad works by using humor to get over weight men to start working out  in our gym so they can get in better physical shape.

 This ad uses humor by having a over weight man pick up his newborn child without his shirt on. The baby is crying, non stop, because it is hungry. When the over weight man shifts the baby towards his chest the baby attempts to breast feed from his chest but fails to do get food from his attempt to breast feed. Our logo and description then appears on the screen to try to convince over weight men that they need to start exercising so they can be in better shape.

 For the audience I targeted men 18 years old and up, and decided to have it broadcast every two hours on sports stations in our area. This includes ESPN, ESPN 2, the outdoor channel, Versus, and even the NFL Football Network. I was hoping that men in the area would see that there’s a gym in the area that they could use to get that fit body that they have always wanted, but were never able to achieve.

 One thing that may need to be changed is the stations we use. Maybe we need to broadcast to a wider audience. Showing a wider audience and using humor would convince any person in the area from age 18 and up, no matter what sex, that a gym is in the area to help them meet their physical goals.

 Another possibility is maybe we should include a picture of the gym at the end of the commercial so they know that we have plenty of machines to use to help them target different muscles and different types of routines.

Advertisement Blog

I used the first two tv advertisements for this assigment.

1. We know that ads are supposed to be persuasive. Take this for granted. But what do these ads persuade you to think, do, or believe—especially beyond simply purchasing their products?
Persuade people to read Expressen, a magazine in Sweden
Trying to persuade people to use the Comanhia Athletica Health and Wellness gym.
2. As you study the advertisements, consider all the elements of it that you can identify. In other words, try not to just focus on the explicit argument. What implicit elements argue here?
A.
B.
3. Describe the apparent use-value of each product; then describe the exchange-value as you see it. Basically, what might purchasers of these products expect to get from them that an inexpensive, generic version would not provide? Evaluate the ads in terms of use-value appeal and exchange-value appeal—how does each address use and exchange concerns? Do they all do both? Do any of your observations contradict what you might have expected?
A. A paper is used to transfer news. They could get the same news from a cheaper product. There is no real difference in papers you can buy; they all have the same information. I thought the commercial was about something totally different.

B. A gym is used to workout at. With a generic version you may not have as many options for machines to work out at. This ad doesn’t really address use or exchange concerns, it just broadcasts that it is a gym that people can use to get physically fit. Again, I thought this ad would be about something totally different.

4. Who would you say the imagined audience for each ad is? What magazines do you think each came from?

A. Anyone who is old enough to read the newspaper.

B. Anyone who uses a gym or anyone who is not physically fit and is interested in getting physically fit.

Topic Proposal

I have decided to update ‘A modest proposal’. For my topic I’ve decided to talk about the problems in Darfur / Sudan region. I feel that this issue is very important and that the genocide, starving, lack of water, and influence AIDS is a great problem that should be quickly resolved by the UN and the US. I propose taking over the country and ousting their government. We could then help the fleeing people return to their villages / towns and put a proper government in place that won’t abuse their power. My over the top proposal is to get everyone that isn’t a native out of the country and just blow it up with missiles and nuclear war heads. This would rid this of this problem country and it would give it the chance to start over. It would also save the lives of some of the soldiers that would partake in the takeover of the country. Blowing up all the people of the country and the country’s cities could also cost less than taking over the country by military power then paying for the country to get back where it should be.

Texts for March 3, 2008

Funny:
This is a video clip that was supposed to be a commercial. I think it's funny because the guy is clearly not smart enough to realize that being hit by the guy that's not supposed to be in the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2hrpy_lmSo

This video clip is of Nat King Cole singing Unforgetable. This song makes me feel sorrowful because it was the song my mom, aunts and uncles decided to play during the viewing for my grandmother's funeral. I was especially close to her and it just makes me think of her when i hear it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8tRTZIx298

Topics for essay #2

1. Economic stimulus package - Obama's plan will work, the plan will fail, the plan won't work because it lacks the mass creation of jobs.

2. Alcohol consumption -Legal drinking age should be lowered to 18, should be kept where it is, should only be lowered on college campuses.

3. Gay marriage - Not be legal in the U.S., should be legal in the U.S., religion should stop the existence of legal gay marriage.

No Justice, No Foul

sorry for this being late i had all my questions highlighted and ready for class and im jus now getting them posted.

One question i had was the case of Furman v Georgia... did this case confront the death penalty being used because it is referred to as the death penalty game.

Another case that Jim Stallard, the writer of this essay, used was Griswold v. Connecticut. What was this case about? It states something about "contraception safe" but i never heard or studied this case.

A lot of the other cases i have heard of such as Brown v Board of Ed. and Roe v Wade and Bakke v California. I learned about these in my sophmore year of high school while studyin Conflict and Change in the 20th and 21st centuries. I also understand the basketball references because i coach basketball in NJ.

January 29 Blog

Ridicule is made for any one that wants to raise morale, strip an enemy of their mystique and prestige, bring truth to the enemy's claim to justice, or eliminate the enemy's image of invincibility. It is a powerful source of humor that has been used since the ancient Greek times and even religious prophets, such as Muhammad, used it as a weapon of war.

The purpose of the argument that is made by Waller, is to show the reader that humor can not only be used to make people laugh in comedies, plays, and arts, but it can also be used as a weapon of war. Dictator and tyrants especially dislike public ridicule because it can put a dent in their image / ego.

BLOG 1/27

One main idea that caught my attention, in the Laughing Matters text, is the information on political humor. The one type of political humor that intrigues me is the type that Parvin uses to give the nation a new view on a politician. Elizabeth Kolbert finds out from Parvin, that this type of humor is the “easiest thing in the world” for Parvin to use and the press picks it up with considerable ease. The purpose of even using political humor is not to aid politician in conveying his views, but to influence the nation to like him more. Many politicians use humor to make light of their mistakes or problems going on while they’re in office, but even Parvin knows that there is a place and a time to poke fun at mistakes or problems. In his mind, “sometimes [humor] helps, and sometimes the trouble is intractable.” It’s important to discuss because it shows how far politicians are willing to go to be better liked. They’ll make fun of themselves and even make fun of the mistakes they made, if the mistakes aren’t that serious. The thing that I think Elizabeth Kolbert misses throughout her writing is that sometimes things become funny in politics when a politician is trying to be completely serious.

An example of this is located at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6TeoNNXxpk

Blog for 1/20
In the first chapter of Comedy Writing Secrets written by Mel Helitzer describes what he believes to be humor and the effect humor has on people. He makes arguments that humor is an art form and that it can be taught. He believes that humor isn’t just a natural gift, but that it can be taught to people as well.
People can learn to read, write, speak new language, and learn countries and capitals, so people can learn to humorous as well. It’s a way to positive way to meet new people and can be applied to any type of person because a subject can be found that would make everyone laugh. However, not all audiences will laugh at the same joke because there are different subjects and different types that are liked by groups of people. For example, an old person will not laugh at the same jokes a teenager will laugh at and blue-collar men would rather hear “Dumb Blonde” jokes and women groups would rather hear jokes ridiculing “men’s habits and body parts”. So every group has a certain topic that is humorous to them.
The first chapter of Laughing Matters by Marvin Diogenes visits the reason for laughing and tries to explain why people laugh when they do. There are many reasons why a person laughs, and every person doesn’t laugh at the same thing because there are different aspects of humor that get to people. Some people like dry humor, while some of the younger kids laugh when some hurts themselves. Why do kids laugh when someone gets hurt? It’s because the person is doing the movement “involuntarily” and this “clumsiness” of falling to the ground while running hits the nail on the head. A person involuntarily trips and falls, and young onlookers laugh because it was an unexpected change in physical action.