Revising

Before:

The written text on the image is very interesting. PETA’s name is at the top, indicating that they are the ones with the message. The word Pokémon is in its usual, familiar font. The words “Black and Blue” refer to the version of the Pokémon game. Every time a new Pokémon game is released, they come out with two different versions, usually by the name of a color or gem such as Soul Silver and Heart Gold. But it seems as if PETA has chosen the name “Black and Blue” on purpose. The words “Black and Blue” put an image of bruises in your mind when reading it because typically, bruises are black or blue. It also helps your mind connect the words to bruises because the words are colored in a gradient manner with blue, purple, and black. Then lastly, the famous quote almost everyone knows “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!” is changed to “Gotta Free ‘Em All!” on this image. Just by the text it self, you can tell that PETA does not like Pokémon. This clearly a spin off game from the original Pokémon because everything is written in the same font and they even have the two different versions listed. But one of the key things that gives away a feeling that PETA does not like the game Pokémon is the quote on the bottom stating “Gotta Free ‘Em all”. Since PETA is all about protecting animals and their rights, they probably do not like the fact that in the original Pokémon game, one of the main goals is to capture all of the Pokémon.

The visual above depicts four popular Pokémon: Oshawott, Snivy, Tepig, and Pikachu. But this is not the familiar cute Pokémon most of us remember. All four of them seem so be wounded. Oshawott, the one with the white head, appears to have been skinned or his fur was ripped off. Snivy, the green snaking looking one, has a needle sticking out of his head and a tag on him. This is probably showing that Snivy is being tested on like lab animals. Tepig, the brown pig looking one, has his ears bit off and a bloody paw print of his face most likely indicating some type of dogfight. Pikachu, the yellow mouse, is chained up and wounded. Based on just the visuals, it seems as if PETA is trying to get a very strong message across, the message that animal cruelty is not ok. Also, PETA’s name is surrounded by a puddle of what looks to be red blood and the Pokémon logo is bordered by harsh looking metal that is what Pikachu is chained to. Because PETA is all about protecting animals’ rights, I think this image is trying to convey that the game Pokémon has animal abuse in it. In the original game, you must battle your own Pokemon against other people’s Pokémon in order to become a stronger Pokémon trainer. PETA probably hates this fact about the game.

Together, the visuals and the text create a powerful message that PETA is trying to get across. They do not like the fact that Pokémon is about battling animals to become a stronger trainer. This is conveyed by the horrible condition that the Pokémon above are in show that PETA thinks the game Pokémon is like dog fighting, where the dog that kills the other dog is the winner. When I view Pikachu chained to the text Pokémon, it almost seems as if PETA feels like in the original Pokémon game, the Pokémon might be forced in one spot for a long time. They could be referring to the fact that when Pokémon are not fighting, they are stuck in a little pokéballs all day. This is easily relatable to dog fights where after the dogs fight, they are just chained up and ignored until the next fight. According to PETA’s Pokémon Black and Blue Gotta Free ‘Em All “The amount of time that Pokémon spend stuffed in pokéballs is akin to how elephants are chained up in train carts, waiting to be let out to “perform” in circuses”. The page for their spoof Pokémon game also talks about the fact that the original Pokémon game tries to hide the horrors of animal torture buy covering it up with images of cute Pokémon.

After:

The written text on the image helps to portray a bigger message than just the image alone. “PETA” is written at the top, indicating that they are the organization with the message. The Pokémon logo is in its usual, familiar font so that it won’t be mistaken for something else. The words “Black and Blue” are written in the middle and refer to the version of the Pokémon game. Every time a new Pokémon game is released, they come out with two different versions, usually by the name of a color or gem such as Soul Silver and Heart Gold. But it seems as if PETA has chosen the name “Black and Blue” for a certain reason. The words “Black and Blue” put an idea of bruises in your mind when reading it because typically, bruises are black or blue. It also helps your mind connect the words to bruises because the words are colored in a gradient manner with blue, purple, and black so there is no missing that connection. Then lastly, the famous quote almost everyone knows from their childhood “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!” is changed to “Gotta Free ‘Em All!” on this image. Just by looking at the text itself, you can tell that PETA does not enjoy Pokémon. This clearly a spin off game from the original Pokémon because everything is written in the same font and they even have the two different versions listed. But one of the key things that gives away a certain feeling that PETA does not support the game Pokémon is the quote on the bottom stating “Gotta Free ‘Em all”. The text is not the only thing that shows PETA’s feelings towards animal cruelty and the game Pokemon.

The visual above from a screen shot of PETA’s spoof Pokemon game depicts four popular Pokémon: Oshawott, Snivy, Tepig, and Pikachu. But this is not the familiar cute Pokémon most of us will remember. All four of the Pokemon seem so be wounded in some way or another. Oshawott, the one with the white head, appears to have been skinned or his fur was ripped off. Snivy, the green snaking looking creature, has a needle sticking out of his head and a ID tag on him. This is probably showing that Snivy is being tested on like lab animals. Tepig, the brown pig looking creature, has his ears bit off and a bloody paw print of his face most likely indicating that he was involved in some type of dogfight. Pikachu, the yellow mouse creature, is chained up and wounded. Based on just the visuals alone, it seems as if PETA is trying to get a very strong message across, the message that animal cruelty is not ok. Also, PETA’s name is surrounded by a puddle of what looks to be red blood and the Pokémon logo is bordered by harsh looking metal that is what Pikachu is chained to. Because PETA is all about protecting animals’ rights, I think this image is trying to convey that the game Pokémon has animal abuse in it and it gets the attention of a lot of viewers. In the original game, you must battle your own Pokemon against other people’s Pokémon in order to become a stronger Pokémon trainer. PETA probably hates this fact about the game. But what the visuals and the text do together really brings the meaning of the screen shot together.

Together, the visuals and the text create a powerful message that PETA is trying to get across. They do not like the fact that Pokémon is about battling animals to become a stronger trainer. Only the trainer is benefiting, not the animal. This is conveyed by the horrible and sad condition that the Pokémon above are in. It shows that PETA thinks the game Pokémon is like dog fighting, where the dog that kills the other dog is the winner. When I view Pikachu chained to the text Pokémon, it almost seems as if PETA feels like in the original Pokémon game, the Pokémon might be forced in one spot for a long time. They could be referring to the fact that when Pokémon are not fighting, they are stuck in a little pokéballs all day, just like some dogs are chained to a tree all day. According to PETA’s Pokémon Black and Blue Gotta Free ‘Em All “The amount of time that Pokémon spend stuffed in pokéballs is akin to how elephants are chained up in train carts, waiting to be let out to “perform” in circuses”. The page for their spoof Pokémon game also talks about the fact that the original Pokémon game tries to hide the horrors of animal torture buy covering it up with images of cute Pokémon.

Victoria Secret

Victoria Secret’s main issues with their advertisement is that they have the saying “a body for everybody” written over all super skinny and tall models. Not all the body types are represented there. But an underlying issue I have also found with the ad is that the two black girls that are in the ad are very light skinned. There are no dark skinned women. All the other girls in the picture are white so no other ethnicity is shown besides white and light skinned black girls. The ad that Victoria Secret made might not appeal to women that are not white or light skinned because they are not represented in the original advertisement.

When I first made my anti-ad, I didn’t put Victoria Secret’s name on it. But after looking at it for a while and thinking what I should add to it, I added their name so that people could see what the ad I had made was about and what they product was that the ad is trying to sell. The reason why I choose to keep all the original text on my anti ad is because I wanted to make those words true for the image. So I only changed the image to make the words “a body for everybody” a true statement that has a lot of meaning. The new image shows women of all shapes and color modeling the underwear so that the words on the ad actually make sense. It also makes the ad appeal to more women because they are all represented on the ad. I know that when I am shopping and I see an ad with a girl my size modeling an outfit, it makes me want to buy it too because I know how it would look on me. So the same probably goes with everyone else. Plus size people (for the most part) are more likely to go in and buy sexy underwear if they see an ad with a women of their size wearing it.

Posted. Deleted. But Never Forgotten.

I do participate in delete culture sometimes. Every once in a while, I will post something on Facebook and then as soon as it uploads, I re-read it and it sounds dumb or pathetic or I had a typo so I will delete it as fast as I can. Other times, on Instagram, sometimes I will post a picture and then I when I view it, I decide I don’t like the picture anymore and delete it right away.

I agree with the right to be forgotten. Like described in the video, if there is something on the Internet that is irrelevant, like being bankrupted 10 years ago, and it’s keeping you from moving forward with normal activities in your life, then you should have the right to get the context removed from the Internet. Now say you are a murderer that just got out of jail. That can stay on the Internet because it deals with other human’s safety. But someone being bankrupted years ago, who is now doing fine financially should be able to censor that they had no money years ago. It doesn’t hurt anyone but themselves for that information to be available on the Internet.

I do not know anyone whose online presence has affected them badly. But I have seen my friends post pictures of them drinking under age and I think to myself that one day, their future employer might see this and not hire them because of the pictures posted.

The video I watched and the conversation theses questions are making make me think more about what I post online. It makes me more aware that not only future employers can see your social media, but other important people like banks can view your past history.

YouTube is a great website to look up all kinds of videos. For the most part, I think YouTube’s graphic layout looks really nice. It’s easy to use and simple to find a video you are looking for. Their are a few flaws with YouTube though. According to Common Sense Media, Youtube may not be the best website for younger kids. Even though there is a safety mode on the website, it can be turned off easily and it doesn’t catch all the bad videos, some can slip past it. This can expose kids to videos that are deemed inappropriate by most people.

For me, my Facebook page depicts me very well. I mostly have pictures of me riding horses which is what I do a lot. My favorite artist, Luke Bryan, does have a Facebook page. His page does depict his style of music, country, very well. He has a lot of pictures of him fishing and a few of him hunting, which is basic of country people. He also has tons of pictures from his outdoor concerts which lots of country artist do. His text includes words like y’all and checkin’. This type of slang is heard all over in country music. The layout of his page allows you to see information about him, and you can easily find that he is a country artist and was born in the south.

https://www.facebook.com/lukebryan/timeline

I feel like we can achieve different rhetorical goals through different means of expressing it. A video may spark different ideas and images than a simple speech or essay. In some cases, pictures and videos can express emotions a lot better than words can. During a presidential speech, you wouldn’t bring up a picture to show everyone. But during a presidential campaign, posters are essential for getting the politicians views across.

Works Cited

“YouTube Website Review.” Common Sense Media. Common Sense Media Inc. n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

Interpretations

I believe that teachers, for the most part, have the correct answer. There are a few times when they may be wrong or their answer could be interoperated differently. I think that most teachers do care about their students interpretations and that if the student is way off, the teacher will guide them in the correct direction.

I approach reading a story and writing an essay pretty similar. I start at the beginning and go chronologically to the end. I write my essays starting with a introduction. I feel like that is what helps me shape my entire paper. If I don’t start with the introduction, I feel my mind go blank and I can’t figure out what to put in my body paragraphs. I approach reading stories and writing essays the way I do for me, not the teacher. It’s how I understand the story better and write better papers.

Stories can have several interpretations. Different people can feel differently about the same story. The theme of a story can have many meanings, depending on who is reading the story and their views. Sometimes I do not talk in discussion because I do feel like my interoperation is wrong. But sometimes, I feel like my interpretation is totally correct and I’m eager to share it with the group.

Usually when I read I don’t write in the margins. But I don’t just skim the reading. I try hard to take in and understand everything the reading is trying to get across.

How to Become a Writer… Is There a Right Way?

Moore’s article is very humorous. I think that the idea of an “insane writer” is a little bit cliche. A lot of famous writers claim to be insane or act insane. I think her article is a misconception among writers. So many writers think that there is one specific way to tell a story or write a plot. But in reality, there are endless ways to do this and no set “right” way.

Many people stereotype me as blonde because because I have blonde hair and sometimes I say things that don’t make sense or I ask stupid and obvious questions. I’m also stereotyped as a typical white girl because I love Starbucks, monograms, and leggings.

A plot is the events that happen to make up a story. I think that it is necessary to have some type of plot in your story. Without one, most likely, your story will be hard to follow and not make sense. I also think that a “5 paragraph essay” can cause problems. It’s hard, sometimes, to fit all you want to say into a pre-determined space. Or sometimes you have less to say. I think you should have as many or as few paragraphs as you want in your essay as long as you get your point across clearly.

I haven’t read very many essays in my life time so I can’t really point out any that are memorable. What I can say is that the essay I had to read for this journal will be memorable for me. The author used humor to make fun of the fact that she did not write like most people. Yet she got her point across and wrote great stories. The speaker of the story related to her, therefore, the story was more relatable to the reader.

Dear Group Mates,

I am not ashamed to admit that I am a sucky writer. Many problems occur when I write. I’m alway worried that I am repeating a word or phrase to many times in one essay. I have a hard time coming up with new and interesting ways to say the same thing different ways that won’t bore the reader. I also have issues with staying on topic. Lots of times, I’ll be writing away, and when I look over what I typed, I realize it has nothing at all to do with the original prompt or topic.

My writing sucks and I need help. So that’s where you come in. When someone is looking over my paper I mostly want negative feedback. I like some positive feedback, but I really just want to know what doesn’t work in my paper. Tell me anything that confuses you. Do I need to describe something better? Does something not make sense? Is this paragraph irrelevant?

Richard Straub made a good point in his book, be detailed about what you want me to clarify in my paper. Don’t just write two short, abrupt words next to a paragraph. Odds are, when I go to revise my paper a day or two later, I will have no idea what you were talking about. Write a sentence or two saying exactly what you are thinking.

I mostly like my comments in the margins of my paper but if you have something to say addressing the paper as an entirety, I like those comments at the very end of the paper. And honestly, even if Straub disagrees, I don’t care if you sound like a teacher when you leave comments on my paper. I just want to know your honest opinions and if you have to sound all rough and tough to get your message across, then by all means do it.

Gotta’ Catch Them All!

Ever sense I was in the 5th grade, the world of Pokemon has taken away hundreds of hours from my life that I could have used to do useful things. But no. Instead of cleaning or doing homework, I sat on the couch, staring glossy eyed at my gameboy color trying to catch them all.

My mom was the one who drew my attention to this addicting game. She let me play her game once and ever sense then I was hooked. Every time  a new version of the game came out I complained to her that “I had to have it”. Even if that meant buying an entirely new handheld gaming console, I did whatever it took to get my hands on the newest version of the game.

Every game version had a similar goal, to catch all the Pokemon and fill up your Pokedex. The newest of the games is played on the Nintendo 3DS. The graphics are amazing and it’s one of the first times you can walk around a 3D world in the game line. I do sometimes miss the simplicity of the older games, when I first stared playing Pokemon. The pixelated graphics. The smaller worlds. Less Pokemon to catch. It brings back memories of actually having the time to play the game I love.

Pokemon introduced me into the world of RPG games. Now I’m hooked. Anything similar to Pokemon or a good looking RPG is going to be, at some point, played by me.

Even though playing Pokemon may seem dorky, I don’t care. I’m proud to say that I preorder every version that comes out. I am a Pokemon nerd.