Iron Man

When Tony Stark, the head of a weapons manufacturer, is captured by a Middle Eastern power, he must use his own technology to escape.  His imprisonment allowed him to learn a lot about his company and himself.  In turn he wants to make a difference, and for the first time in the company's history do what is ethical.  So Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey, Jr., uses some of his old inventions to make a state of the art suit in order to set things right.  In this new addition to the Marvel Comics movies, Robert Downey, Jr. uses action and humor to entertain audiences of all ages, in what many are calling the best movie of summer 2008.

I absolutely enjoyed this movie.  I liked it so much that I actually watched it twice in the movie theaters.  In my opinion this movie tops all other Marvel Comics movies (including Spider-Man).  It has the right amount of humor to keep you entertained, but it is the action packed scenes that make this movie great.  Who wouldn't want to see a movie with a man flying around and using sonic blasts to make things right in the world.  This is one of those movies that have you wondering when you leave the theater, "What if I could do that?"

*Here is a little info on Iron Man.* 

Meaning Essay Post #2

I feel like I kind of already did this assignment by writing about the commercial that I will be writing about in my blog post for Tuesday.  However, I did get some new ideas on ways to make a better argument and how to create a better essay.  So, you can compare this post to the one that I made on Tuesday to see how I view this commercial differently now.

The personal testimony that I have that relates to this commercial is that I was once a young and immature teenage boy that needed help being "cool".  Unfortunately, a body spray isn't going to make you an instant stud.  There is more to being "cool" than just smelling great.  Although I have tried this body spray by Old Spice and admit that it is pretty good smelling, it isn't going to change the person that you are.  I honestly believe that no nonliving object has the capability to change how you are.

In order for me to inform you of my counter argument you probably need to know a little background on my argument.  Basically, I will be focusing on the fact that Old Spice uses a logical fallacy to get you to buy their product.  They do this by making you think that their product will transform you into a stud.

My counter argument is that this body spray by Old Spice, entitled "Swagger" will give you a pleasant smell.  As I touched on in my personal testimony, this is a great scent.  If you wear this body spray you may have a couple people come up to you and ask you what cologne you are wearing, or tell you that you smell nice.  This is making you more popular in public, which is what Old Spice is portraying in their commercial, but on a much smaller level.  This is the positive from the body spray, but like I said it isn't going to change you as a person.

* This is the other new commercial that Old Spice came out with for "Swagger".  Just to let you know.

Comment to Avi Patel's Blog

This is a funny commercial. I remember seeing this on tv, which i guess is the object of the company; to make the audience remember the ad. I like how you put explained this commercial. Your thoughts really make since and I think that you have supportive details to back up your ideas. I also thought that your personal testimony and allusion relate to the commercial at hand. You have a really good base with this ad which will help you in writing your paper. Your paper should turn out pretty well if you stick to these thoughts! Good Luck!

Meaning Essay

I am going to do my meaning essay on this Old Spice commercial.  I remembered watching this commercial over the weekend and I thought that it would work pretty well for the assignment.  The first thing that I remember saying to myself after watching this commercial was, "I guess they want the viewer to assume that if he uses this body spray that he will transform into this stud."  It's a funny commercial because obviously everyone knows that a body spray isn't going to change you into a totally different person.  However, I think it would leave a lot of viewers with no common since wondering exactly how cool this new body spray really is.  This is where my argument for the meaning essay will come into play.

My personal experience for this essay is that I have actually tried the new body spray that Old Spice came out with, entitled "Swagger".  I do have to admit that the new scent is pretty amazing, but it isn't going to transform you into a NFL star.  I have always talked to a few friends that really enjoy the new body spray.  On top of that I know of people that will always ask about the body spray that I have on at a certain time.  This is where the commercial is partially true, because the spray will possibly get you noticed in public.

The common question, "Who smells good?" could be my allusion for this essay.  It never fails if there is someone in a room or small area that has a pleasant smelling cologne or body spray on a newcomer will always ask.  This is a common question all over the world, because it is just natural instinct to find out how is the one with the good smelling perfume on.

Comment to Colton Bickel's Blog Post

This is a very good point that you bring up.  I totally agree with what you are going to say in your essay.  What is the point to have everything in the world if you don't have a soul to go with it.  You would be happy material wise but you wouldn't be happy with your social life.  Many times this is hard to see in life though, since humans are all so greedy.  Your essay will be easy to appeal to your audience's emotion and value as well by using the art of rhetoric.  This should be a very effective essay.

Personal Testimony and Allusion

The word I am defining in my essay is "Love."  Today I created my thesis statement which is, "Love can be seen as a dedicated commitment or passion towards a person or an object that an individual can't live without."  I also decided that the audience I would be writing to would be a group of people who restrict love to only be shared with humans.  I will be trying to show how love can be shared with almost anything!!!  Also the fact that love is not just a feeling of affection or attraction, but it is a commitment and a passion that one feels for something or someone.

I have had a few personal experiences with love.  First off I have experienced love with humans through my family and my girlfriend (of over three and a half years).  This experience allows me to relate to the audience that I will be trying to persuade if you will.  However, I have also experienced love with objects, such as my love for football.  I love football so much that I got a tribal football tattoo on my right shoulder blade.  This tattoo will be with me forever to remind myself of my love for the game of football.  This experience goes to show my audience that it is possible to love objects, things, or even sports.  It shows how my audience can have a dedicated commitment or passion for something that you can't be without other than just people.  These experiences that I have described will allow me to relate to my audience and give them examples of love, while at the same time appealing to their values and emotions (Ethos and Pathos).

I may use an allusion to love from the movie "Step Up 2."  In the movie the main character, Andie loves dancing and she can't get enough of it.  She cares so much about dancing that she attends a school that she hates and she gives up all of her friends in order to continue to dance.  This relates to my essay because it shows how people can love things other than just people.

"Animal Farm" Passage

This week's reading was a speech given in George Orwell's Animal Farm.  The speech was given by Major, the lead pig on the farm.  After doing some background research on the book I was able to understand what was going on better in this speech, which not to mention was a brilliant one.  Major did a great job on addressing the rest of the farm animals in this passage.  He was able to present the animals his argument by using the techniques and elements that make a great speech.  I thought that by the end of the speech he really had persuaded the "comrades" to believe what he was telling them.  The main reason that he was able to persuade his audience was due to his great use of supportive detail to all of his claims on how humans are bad.  After reading this article, I was reminded of a movie that I saw a while back called Barnyard.  I just felt like the movie Barnyard was based off of the book Animal Farm.  I'm sure that there were some connections there, but I did notice that in Barnyard the leader of the farm is a cow and not a pig.  I don't remember the movie real well, but after reading this passage it helped me realize where Nickelodeon got its idea for the movie.  This passage was pretty entertaining for me, because I always love to read or watch animals talk in literature and movies.  I think it is funny to see how each author or director portrays a different diction for the different animals.  It really tells the audience what the author or director thinks about the animal's personality.  

Hoosiers Do The Comma!!!

Our next wonderful assignment is to create a powerpoint presentation to present to the class in our groups.  Each group was assigned a punctuation mark that they were responsible to present on.  Unfortunately, my group received the honors of telling the class about the comma.  I was really hoping that we would get the exclamation point, because that is an exciting and happy punctuation mark.  I found out after extensive research, like the rest of my group, the comma has about 1,205,938 rules for usage in the english language. (that was a joke!!!)  Honestly, there are a lot of rules, but we also decided to research on the misuses of the comma as well.  The comma is often misused so we thought that it would be important to supply some of that information to the class.  Believe it or not, but there are a lot of ways that people misuse the comma also.  When we started this project we were responsible to start a Facebook group to use as a communication tool.  This was a great idea and really shows how Facebook can be used for educational purposes.  Our group was able to link to sites and share information that would have been difficult to do unless we met outside of class.  Overall I think this project is going to be a pretty good experience, because even though we are only presenting information on punctuation marks, we are going to improve our group and oral delivery skills.  However, I am nervous to give our presentation, because I did most of the powerpoint creation!!!

The Missing Comma!!!

"Did You Know? 2.0"

I really enjoyed watching this video!!! I can honestly say that it was the coolest homework assignment that I have ever done.  The way this movie was put together was so simple, but was very entertaining.  However, I was most impressed by the way the creators kept surprising me as I was guessing what the next crazy statistic was going to be.  Many of them blew my mind and absolutely dropped my jaw.  More importantly though I thought this project was an excellent form of visual argument.  It almost reminded me of an advertisement.  I also noticed that they used a lot of repetition throughout the project with the "did you know." The creators recognized the audience and found out how to reach out and pull them in with multiple facts.  Every fact was more and more interesting, so that my attention was on the video the entire time.  I thought that this project was very well developed and was supported with great facts to back up their argument.  It's crazy to think about all the changes that the world has and is going to go throughout during my lifetime.  It is weird to think that my grandchildren will be studying about my lifetime in their history class!!! 

Click here to check out this great video yourself. 

"Malcolm X"

Wow!!!  I can't even imagine the dedication and perseverance that it took to accomplish what Malcolm X did.  To teach yourself to be able to read and write is incredible, but to do it in prison is even more impressive.  When I say this I mean in prison his resources were limited, but he was still able to accomplish this task.  This essay opened my eyes and allowed me to see what a great type of person Malcolm X really was.    

"Proficiency"

I had to take the ninth-grade proficiency test just like Shannon Nichols, the author of this essay.  However, I was lucky enough to pass it the first time I took it.  On the other hand I do know how Shannon feels because I did have a disappointing ACT score.  Just like Shannon, I was an excellent student throughout high school, but I guess when it comes to timed tests that I can't study for I don't do very well.  Initially I felt the same frustration that Nichols described, but I eventually moved on and it hasn't had such an impact on me in the long run.

"How I Learned about the Power of Writing"

This is a very interesting essay, in the fact that the author had such a special gift and cherished it.  I know that I'm lucky to have the education and knowledge that I have, but I am always taking it for granted.  The author used his talent everyday, which inspires me, a person that doesn't like to read and write much to use my knowledge more often.