What I've Learned This Week

Even though I missed one class, from the slides I've been able to see that the topic of that class was rhetoric. Some of the topics covered were Advertising Strategies, Rhetoric Appeals, Logical Fallacies, pathos; also, there were some ads used as examples, such as the British Smoking Ad, which was my favorite ad out of all the ads on the slide. On Friday, we met Mrs. Otis, who showed us different ways of finding info for our Major Inquiry Project. Most of the ways she showed us involved using the school library's website for finding different articles based on our project topic. After Mrs. Otis finished, we put those lessons to work by researching our topic using our new-found tactics.  For my project, I initially was interested in technology as my topic, but after seeing how broad of a topic it is, I'm considering changing it. I'm considering focusing on alcoholism, but its still up in the air for me. Hopefully I'll be able to decide for sure soon.

Summary of What I've Learned So Far

In our class so far, I've learned why writing well is so important in the world today and how we are attracted to certain types of media. We also were given some terms that will play a vital part in good writing, such as inquiry, rhetoric, and discourse. We've been focusing more on rhetoric and the multiple ways companies and other media use it in their attempts to persuade us to try their product. Literacy was another point we visited, as well as academic writing. Writing through the view of the writer/ reader was also another important topic we covered; the main part I remember from this were the 6 key questions, and how we should always ask ourselves these questions anytime we read. Audience and purpose were two other topics we covered.We also covered thesis statements, and even dissected a few of our classmates' thesis statements. Now we're continuing our focus on rhetoric as well as starting on our Major Inquiry Project Assignments.

Rhetorical Analysis of Image

  

In this strip done by an Australian named Paul Zanetti, an old man is scolding a boy after he pays a late library book fee. The boy then replies by saying he's learned that he should download the book for free from online. This comic strip visits the issue of piracy, in which you download something online without paying, which affects the original distributor since they aren't paid for their work. This is done all over the world and has many dedicated networks online. In the US, a major bill called the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) is being passed through the House of Representatives; if passed, it would expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. Many companies and organizations are fighting this law, saying that it violates their First Amendment Rights, cripples the Internet, is Internet censorship, and could possibly threaten other free speech actions. The message of this image is to show how people are more likely to pirate what they need instead of buying since its free; I think the artist, Paul Zanetti, uses a kid in this strip since a majority of the people who pirate are teenagers. Overall, I think Paul did a good job of conveying an important subject in a humorous manner while remaining neutral.

Myself as a Reader/Writer

When I read, I tend to read more for entertainment than information. I'm more likely to read a comic or a magazine than a book that focuses on something like the Industrial Revolution or Shakespeare. I think the reason why is because when I first started reading, all I read were pretty much comics. I read a lot of comics because they interacted with my imagination and opened up a new world for me. They allowed me to experience different perspectives and values while keeping my interest at the same time. Eventually I had expand my reading, since I was a middle school student, so I had to move on. I worked my way up to reading longer books, with my first major books being the Sum of All Fears and Red Rabbit, both Tom Clancy books. Now, I can read various types of books, though I'd still prefer a good old Marvel comic to end the day.


As a writer, I try to keep things simple. I may add a few complex words to impress the reader, which I find funny because I'll probably never use those words in my actual speech. Also, when I write, I try to make sure I make sense, because its pretty sad when someone reads something I take time to write, hands it back to me, and says that they can't read it because they can't understand. I also try to make sure I have as much info as I can about whatever subject I'm writing about so that I can present that view while representing my own view as well. I don't usually write a lot unless I'm assigned something to write, but recently I've been writing out mini-stories whenever I'm really bored or when I have an idea that I think is pretty cool. I pretty much write only when I have to or whenever I think of something that would be pretty interesting.