IRB Intro #3: A Story Lately Told

A Story Lately Told is an autobiographical text that describes the upbringing and struggles of award winning actress and director, Anjelica Huston.  This book was published last year and there is one entitled Watch Me, which describes her career and successes.  The book itself is split into three sections: Ireland, London, and New York.  Each section contains the events that happened during her residency in that specific country/city; within each section are multiple chapters that further break down her life events chronologically. At the beginning of each chapter there is a photograph of Huston and other people with a caption of who they are, where the picture was taken, and what year it occurred.  By providing a picture at each chapter it allows the reader to not only read about the transitions in her

life but also see how she changed and how her environment changed. My mother recently purchased this book and it seemed like it would be interesting, especially since it does not idolize her successes, rather her struggles. For my past independent reading books I read a memoir and a research-based book so by reading an autobiography I will be able to capture more aspects of Huston’s life than done in the memoir. I am excited to see what type of struggles she endured and how she overcame them. From reading the back I know that she does not have a strong relationship with her brother, her parents divorced so she does not contact her father very much, and her mother died in a car accident. From that I know all of the major disasters in her life, but I am interested to see what smaller issues will occur throughout her life. I am also excited to see how she will describe her life and hope that I will be able to connect and make an emotional investment in her story,

Anjelica Huston
URL: http://nomoredirtylooks.com/2012/10/sallies-morning-skin-and-hair-routine-exposed/anjelica-huston-at-crimes-and-misdemeanors-1989/

TOW #17: Are Kids Vulnerable?

In the article, Super Bowl Ad Blitz: Are Kids Vulnerable? by James Steyer the author uses inclusive diction and specific examples to prove inform audiences of the dangers presented to youth through advertisements. Steyer uses words such as “we” and “our” throughout the text to establish a common relationship and stance with his audience. This relationship allows his audience to feel that the information he is presenting will impact them and causes them to read the article more attentively and be affected by the author’s purpose more. Since he is trying to inform his readers, mostly parents, that the advertisement mediums have become excessive and dangerous towards the youth it was necessary for him to develop a common ground between him and his audience to make his concerns more personable. The relatable relationship he developed allowed the message to be more effective. Specific examples were also used to establish the dangers involved in modern means of advertising. He included examples beyond televisions ads, but those included on Internet games and applications. Today, companies are able to follow Internet activity in order to include ads that best connect to the individual; often, teenage girls receive weight-loss ads, which can be very insulting and damaging to their self-esteem. Situations such as this can negatively impact the consumer emotionally, especially the vulnerable youth. Steyer also includes the endless influence of advertisements because television is no longer the only medium for advertisements; children and teenagers are constantly faced with advertisements on popular social media cites, games, and the television. This specific evidence appeals to the logical side of his purpose and provides factual information to support his message that modern advertisement is constant and possibly dangerous towards the youth. He recognizes that it is only possibly dangerous because modern advertising is new and the effects are yet to be discovered.

Article:http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/31/opinion/steyer-ads-children/index.html?hpt=op_t1

Advertising
URL: http://www.damselsinsuccess.com/how-advertising-has-changed-in-the-digital-age/

TOW#16: THe Most Controversial Decision

In the book, The Most Controversial Decision by Wilson D. Miscamble, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War I was described and researched. As previously described in my blog the first half of the book was strictly fact based to provide a specific record of events leading up to the bombing. In the second section, the actual event was described along with the aftermath including the importance of the Japanese surrender as well as the brutal effects of the radioactive bombs.  The sections in which these aspects of the event are described maintain an unbiased point of view and provide numerous sources in the footnote of each page. This allowed readers to collect straightforward, factual information and create their own opinion regarding the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Chapter seven entitled “Necessary, But Was It Right?” while this seems like it would be an opinionated section, it was not; rather it defended the bombing as well as critiqued it. Just as Miscamble had in the recaps of history, he maintained the large amount of reliable sources in the footnotes to show the credentials of him and his writing.  After that section which vastly focused on immediate results of the bombing, he went on to describe long-term effects of the event such as the Cold War. The purpose of this book, to educate intellectual adults on the controversial bombings in Japan to allow them to form their own opinions on the matter, was achieved through Miscamble’s strictly fact-based writing. By writing without incorporating his personal views on the event he allows this book to be very reliable and provided a well-rounded perspective of the bombing. This book is an effective recap of the events before, during, and after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing which allows readers to make educated decisions regarding whether or not they agree with this event.

Cover Page
URL:http://www.tower.com/most-controversial-decision-truman-atomic-bombs-defeat-japan-wilson-d-miscamble-c-paperback/wapi/117398971

TOW#15: Keeping Music Real

The article, “Keeping Music Real”, was written by a teen under the name of Abby H. to discuss her opinion on what the music industry has evolved into. Unlike most teenagers, she does not support recent rap and pop music; in fact she finds it to be shallow and more about image than music. She speaks about the emotionless lyrics written by professional songwriters to be artificially performed, inappropriate music videos, and attention seeking rumors. She uses a personal experience from camp when she tried to introduce her bunkmates to the type of music she listened to and she was turned away being told that no one liked that music and only she didn’t like the music they played. This piece was written to encourage teens to find more meaningful music than the stereotypically popular music this day in age.  This article is much like the timed essay that we wrote for class about entertainment’s potential ability to ruin society, except this specifically focuses on the music industry. The behavior of some artists is rather inappropriate and some lyrics do not containing any meaningful purpose. However, this article fails to present any specific evidence of this argument and therefore leaves it underdeveloped and therefore depreciates Abby H.’s credibility. There are plenty of examples of her opinions that she could have incorporated into the article but did not. With the lack of evidence this article did not convince me to agree with her viewpoint, it actually provoked me to think of examples that contradict her argument. I think it would have been a much more effective piece if she included some examples to support and verify her point because I wide range of evidence does exist on this topic. While music has in some cases taken a turn for the meaningless and inappropriate there are still plenty of artists who value the musical side of the industry rather then just their image.

Article: http://www.teenink.com/opinion/all/article/17164/Keeping-Music-Real/

The "Music" Industry
URL:http://www.businessinsider.com/why-miley-cyrus-we-cant-stop-is-actually-the-saddest-song-of-the-summer-2013-8

TOW #14: Barilla

Barilla, the pasta company, released an ad to go along with the time of the New Year holiday. The background of the advertisement is a royal blue, which is also the color the box; this will allow consumers to not only notice the ad but to make a connection between it and the product itself when they are in a store. The main focus is the large firework shape made out of pasta; this presents the product in an interesting and festive way, the text, “HAPPY NEW YEAR” clarifies the occasion for this advertisement. The unique shape firework shape that the pasta is in makes it memorable, both drawing attention to the ad and being so distinctive that the audience will remember it while grocery shopping. At the very bottom is the Barilla logo and slogan to specify the brand of pasta being represented. The purpose of this, like any ad, is to sell the company’s product to adults that grocery shop. During this time of year it is typical for holiday related commercials, however they are typically more oriented towards Christmas, which alienates audiences of other religions. By approaching the customers through New Years, it can be accepted by people of all backgrounds making this ad inclusive to a large variety of people allowing it to be more effective. The use of the yellow pasta on the royal blue background draws attention to the pasta therefore greatly presenting the product itself. The slogan of Barilla is, “The choice of Italy” which appeals to logos. This phrase describes the Barilla pasta of extremely high quality because even in Italy, the home of pasta this brand is typically chosen. It is through these various aspects of the advertisement that it is so effective and achieves its purpose of getting people to purchase Barilla pasta.  

Barilla New Year
URL: http://www.zulucreative.co.uk/blog/21/12/2012/xmas-ads-volume2/