William Zinsser's Memoir Thoughts

Listening to William Zinsser's thoughts regarding memoirs was very interesting. I feel that his thoughts were spot on. The example characteristics of "bad memoirs" was very eye opening for me. He said that bad memoirs whine and bash people who did them wrong in their lives while a good memoir is about forgiveness and compassion. One saying that stood out for me the most was when he said writing a memoir is supposed to heal. I absolutely love that because a memoir is supposed to be a journey of self-reflection and being in touch with your emotions. I agree with him about excluding self-indulgent thought and experiences from memoir because that would leave room for more fabrication and exaggeration.

In my memoir, I think I will write to discuss the inner struggle I had to go through to stand up to my mom for what I believed in. It was a frustrating point in my life where I felt stuck and felt alone in the world with my thoughts and ambitions. I intend to understand where my inner strength came from to finally emerge victorious and help my mother understand that I have to start making my own choices from now on. 

My First Beautiful Device.

As I enter the store full of potential takers, my stomach flutters with excitement. This would be my first time owning one of these onyx coated devices! The way that the sunlight glistened off of it was astonishing. I knew that this device was mine. Once I made up my mind, I called the tall, fair skinned employee to come to my assistance. He almost looked like everyone in the store. They all had on blue shirts with a yellow name tag. For some reason, the employee that was helping me had the biggest smile on his face. I found that to be a little weird. Anyway, he asked how I would like to be helped and I told him that I would like this little guy, pointing to the onyx device. He said no problem and proceeded to get the box with the product in it. As he was walking towards me, it seemed as if the box had some sort of white and blinding aura around it! Maybe that was just my excitement personifed. I swear, I think I reached towards my box with my short, stubby arms as he walked past me! I didnt know what was going on. He led me towards the checkout counter and that's where he sat the box down. The box was as long as my right arm with the colors black and gold dominating it. There were words on it from about 6 different countries but I was most fixated on the picture of my new and beautiful device that was sure to be in my hand in the matter of moments. As soon as I handed him my plastic card and got the receipt from him, the transaction would be complete. When he wished me to have a good day, I literally snatched my new Nikon D3000 and ran out the door to snap some pictures!

VR PROJECT

Here's the link to my Visual Rhetoric Project.  Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kingcarter/sets/72157625953267747/show/

Alice Walker Essay

I really like this piece by Alice Walker! In the beginning, I was kind of confused as to who was the narrator and who certain characters were. However, as I kept reading, the characters were fleshed out and I began to get more involved in the story. The story was about a mother and her two daughters. One daughter lives with her while the other has gone out to get higher education. Walker's style of writing had so much character behind it. She articulated some emotions very well but what I loved so much about it was the vivid details she chose to decribe. I could actually picture some of the images just by her vivid descriptions. For example, when the narrator described how she saved her distressed daughter, Maggie, and how she heard the flames crackling, I could picture it. Also, the way Walker writes seems so natural. It doesn't seem forced at all, it just flows. The character development is awesome! I loved the way I could feel a cultural difference between the narrator & Maggie versus Dee & "The Barber". As for the personal exploration aspect, I think the Dee character was there to challenge the aspect of who the narrator is and what she stands for. The quilt part explains that. When Dee told her mother that she was taking the quilts, that would've been like taking her past away from her. After the narrator came to her senses and stood up to Dee, I grew a smile on my face! She realized the worth of those quilts and gave it to Maggie, who deserved them in the first place.

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Iconic Photo: Fire On Marlborough Street

"Fire on Marlborough Street" was shot by Stanley J. Forman on July 22nd, 1975.  He was working in the newsroom of the Boston Herald American newspaper when a police scanner picked up a fire emergency on Marlborough Street.  Forman rushed to the scene, where multiple fire crews were battling an intense blaze. There was a distress call for a ladder team to the rear of the building to help a stranded woman and child. That's when Forman followed.  He climbed on top of a fire truck to get a better view.  Forman's attention was directed to a young woman, Diana Bryant, and a very young girl, Tiare Jones.  They both were seeking help from fireman, Bob O'Neil, located on the roof right above them.  O'Neil moved to the fire escape and motioned for the truck's ladder to be brought to them. The flames came closer to the fire escape as Forman continued to shoot.  Then, at the very instant the ladder reached the trio, the fire escape gave way.  O'Neil clung to the ladder, but Bryant and Jones fell. Forman snapped a last picture before turning away, knowing the bodies were falling to the ground.  Diana Bryant was pronounced dead at the scene but the young girl lived. 

This photo is trying to show the poor fire safety codes that were practiced at that time.  This photo that Stanley J. Forman took paved the way for Boston and other states to mandate tougher fire safety codes.  The message in the picture was a very strong one.  Forman caught a shocking moment on film of a woman and child supposedly falling to their death.  It brought a huge awareness to the lack of safety of fire escapes and demanded something to be done about it.  The reception and perception of the photo was rather large.  Like I said before, the photo brought awareness to safer fire precautions, which was well needed.  Also, this photo from the tragic event garnered Stanley J. Forman a Pulitzer Prize.

Visual Rhetoric Project Ideas

I’ve decided to do my project on life with diabetes.  I am a diabetic myself and I wanted to showcase what necessary precautions I have to go through in order to live a more healthier life.  I feel like this would be good for my soul!  I don’t want to be too serious about this project as far as content goes; I want to have a little fun with it!  I plan to take pictures in the weird places I take my medicine in, the tools and necessities I need to take care of myself, etc.  As I said before, I want to have fun with it but I will not lose sight of the importance of what I’m trying to convey.  I plan to use PATHOS obviously because this subject is VERY dear to me.  Diabetes has changed my life for the better and I am glad that I have control over it.  The context will show the steps I have to take everyday in order to stay healthy and basically how all of this is unnecessary as long as you live healthy.  In some of my pictures, I plan to use mixed media to make it more visually appealing.  I’m going to use a combination of Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.  I can’t wait to see my finished product!  I’m so excited!

Guy Tillim

Grande Hotel, Beira, Mozambique, 2008

Courtesy of Kuckei and Kuckei, Berlin & Michael Stevenson, Capotown

Guy Tillim's exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Photography was an interesting one.  At the beginning, I felt that the pictures were lacking something but I couldn’t figure out what it was!  That’s when I decided to read about what the whole exhibit was about.  The description said that Guy Tillim’s gallery of photos were meant to record the architecture and infrastructure of colonial and post-colonial Africa.  That’s when my mind began to work!  What I thought the pictures were lacking were people but they weren’t the actual subjects.  The building’s were the subject and that’s why I chose the pictures shown above.

The pictures are taken of the Grande Hotel.  What I immediately noticed about these pictures were the decaying buildings in the foreground as well as the background.  It gives you a feel of some of the living conditions that these people live in.  I feel like this is a good photo because it serves the purpose of what the exhibit is all about.  The exhibit is focused on the architecture of colonial and post-colonial Africa.  These pictures show the damage and decaying of the building while the building tells us a story.  

It tells us the struggles that it has been through.  It tells us that it is still remaining strong even after the wear and tear of conflict.  To understand the aesthetic of this picture, I asked myself, “What is the beauty of this photo?”  I thought that having little splashes of people in the background at totally different places serves as the soul of the picture.  The exhibit doesn’t focus on individual lives but this picture shows a little bit of that.  It shows that from the kids playing by the pool, to the old man sitting in his chair and to the woman doing laundry on the rooftop.  I feel like this picture is more social than personal because it documents the buildings and how it looks after the result of social change.

Campus Map

The start of my journey starts in Hyde Park beginning at my apartment.  Daily, I make my way to my neccessary bus stop because I commute using the #6: Jackson Park Express bus.  I always make my way to the back of the bus and sit in my favorite seat right by the door for easy exiting purposes.  Everyday, I notice a certain ad that I know has strong emotional value behind it.

This particular ad may not particularly be focused towards me but I know the pain.  My mother was pregnant as a teenager and she expressed her feelings of what she was feeling while she was pregnant with me.  The ad is asking are you pregnant and scared.  It then assures the reader that they aren't alone and tries to get you to call them if you need help.  The ad is most definitely using PATHOS because of its emotional appeal.

This is one smart ad.  I saw it when I got off the bus on Jackson & Michigan. The message that it is trying to convey is to not include yourself in "sexting".  "Sexting" is when you send someone nude pictures of yourself.  They are trying to get the reader to protect yourself and your reputation by not sexting.  I haven't sexted before in my life!  However, I feel that this is pretty cool advertising.  I feel that this ad is using LOGOS. 

This ad is about the extinction of Tigers.  I saw it while walking towards the 33 East Congress PKWY Building.  It tries to bring awareness of the situation.  They are basically giving us information about the number of tigers that are left in the wild daily and that those numbers are shrinking.  They are trying to provoke sympathy within me for these tigers.  It makes me wonder what I can do to help this cause.  This ad uses PATHOS.  It kind of made me sad because tigers were my favorite animals to watch at the zoo.  I don't want to see them go away!

After class is done, I quickly head back to the bus stop, get on the bus and make my way home for some good ol' SLEEP.

"Please move to the rear of the bus."

Dead Space 2 Advertisement

     

This video is an advertisement from Dead Space 2, a video game for the PlayStation 3.  I literally laugh out loud seeing the reactions of the mothers in this video. PRICELESS!  

     In the commercial, mother's are told they are part of a study and are asked to give their opinion on a video game that is under development.  They are then showed clips of the video game that shows the violent content.  After they see the videos of the video game, the mother's hate it.  That's exactly what the commercial was trying to convey!  Have you ever thought something was cool and your mom disagreed with you?  Yeah, you probably thought she didn't know what she was talking about.  That's what the context is.

"A mom's disapproval has always been an accurate barometer of what is cool."

 I see this as GREAT marketing.

The sender of the message are the developers of Dead Space 2.  The game was developed by EA (Electronic Arts) and Visceral Games.  The receiver of the message are kids like me!  Haha.  No, but the receiver of the message are anyone above the age of 17 who are into great video games.  The exact message is sort of complex.  The commercial says that mom's disapprove of this game.  The commercial is really talking to people with mom's out here in the world!  What could be cool in our eyes might not be cool in our mom's eyes; that's what makes Dead Space 2 a good game. That's the point that the commercial was trying to make.  This commercial doesn't show ethos or pathos in my opinion.  It doesn't show a highly emotional story and could be seen as a good persuasive strategy for some, not all.  I think this commercial is mainly logos.  It shows factual data and statistics and informed opinions mainly from the mothers.

I think this commercial achieved what it was going for!  I say this because it made me go out and...

...BUY THE GAME!

Now, all I need is my mother's approval. 

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