The picture to the left with the outline of a girl and the words “Class President” is a picture of myself, only altered to look like a hundred little pieces putting my frame together. The alteration is very simple, yet very meaningful to me. When talking about Class Presidents, I believe there are a lot of misconceptions and preconceived notions. However, these notions and misconceptions only help to define the shape of some of the pieces that add up to me. In addition to the pieces, the colors, as well as my facial expression, all represent something of significance. In spite of this, nothing comes close to the significance of that day. The picture was evidently taken on Graduation Day, a day I put hundreds of hours into in order to sit at a two -hour ceremony. Despite the short commencement ceremony, the hours as well as the time, are all a part of me, making up the pieces of my personality.

When I think of sadness, I think of the color black. Automatically funerals come to mind, as well as the bleakness of the night. When you Google “sad images,” at least half of the pictures do not contain color, just shades of black. The picture to the right displays exactly how I feel when I think of the color black, while using only shades of black. The decision to pick the color black was simple for me. Every other color can be associated with something that makes me happy, however I can’t recall anything black that makes me truly ecstatic.

When I think of happiness, I think of bright bold colors, in particular the color orange. I associate happiness with the color orange simply because it is never generally related to sad or horrible things, and tends to be cheery. I understand that red is also a bright and bold color and can be associated with happiness, but it can also be linked to murder scenes and blood. Yellow is also an option, but in all honestly it tends to be kind of bland for me sometimes, even sometimes blah. With the picture to the left, how can you feel anything but happiness in my opinion? There is nothing but the sunset and the horizon in nothing but the most stunning shade of orange.

I believe the camera angle for a picture associated with happiness should be a direct shot. Simply to capture all the happiness and colors, as well as the background. An high angle shot would be too daunting, and a low angle shot would make the picture seem inappropriate. Inappropriate in the sense that the subject(s) of the picture would seem bigger or better than the viewers and that is not something that I would associate with happiness. So basically just a simple, direct, eye-level angle would be suitable.

For a sad picture, I believe that either a high angle shot or an eye-level angle would be most appropriate. I believe a high angle shot could capture the feeling that something is above the subject(s) and that can make for a sense of sadness. However, I also feel that a direct angle could capture everything such as the subject(s) facial expressions or body positioning.

Nike Advertisement

The Nike advertisement shown to the left is extremely bold, and yet very simple. I believe Nike’s marketing department is trying to direct this ad towards a young, female audience. It is clear to me that Nike is trying to give off a sexy image to their product, merely because of the models body position and facial expression. I think this gives off the idea that if women choose to wear Nikes, they will be as sexy and pretty as the model. The decision to use only three colors is also very effective. The white and the black are simply used to highlight the bright pink Nike swoosh. The background fades from a dark shade of black (top), to lighter gray (bottom), giving off the idea of different dimensions. I feel that Nike’s marketing department wants the audience to believe that they too, will have more dimensions while wearing Nike shoes. In addition to the primary audience, I believe the advertisement also appeals to males. The model is young and sexy and it is impossible to look at the ad and not notice the swoosh. In turn, males will think they also will need to buy Nikes because then women will be attracted to them, the way they are attracted to the advertisement. Its interesting to me to think about the fact that such a simple advertisement, can say so much.

Planning a Research Paper

Response #3
While reading Chapter 4, Planning and Proposing Research Arguments, I came to realize a lot more background work can go into something as simple as a poster or an advertisement. The text describes the need to figure out exactly what your topic and emphasis is, then what the message is by asking a question and answering it, and finish by focusing on a certain aspect proposed by the questions developed while planning. So for example, a poster of a collage of September 11, 2001, might immediately look bleak and sad to the audience, when in reality each element took time and research. Not only does this work for posters or advertisements, but research papers as well. The text advises the writer to draft a proposal when writing a research paper, as well as a three -paragraph model to help state the topic, focus, and obstacles that may be encountered. It is clear that for any good piece of published work, a lot of planning and thought must be involved.

Response 2
Before I started the reading, I knew I would be reading about arguments, simply because of the title. However, what I didn’t know was that rhetoric strategies also carry over into the construction of argumentative essays. During the reading I found out when “inventing” an argument, it is important to come up with an ample amount of ideas so when it comes time to present the argument, only the strongest ideas are stated. While putting together the final piece of work that will be presented, style, as well as arrangement are key components. Through these components, as well as others, the writer’s “persona” will be displayed. From the reading, I found out that persona is considered to be the way one purposefully displays their work. This concept is displayed through these elements because I might chose to arrange my argument in a cause and effect manner, while you might chose to display it in a problem- solution manner. For example, if I was writing a paper on the Republican Party, I might choose to have this picture displayed alongside the text, as shown.By choosing this picture, my persona is being displayed, as well as my goal to enhance my argument through association. I found this reading to be extremely helpful, and I believe that it will be key to writing my first big essay for this class.