Redesign of Advertisement Essay Reflection

When I first looked at the Redesign of Advertisement I was worried that I wouldn't be able to write a 5 page essay trying to explain one ad and how I would redesign it.  The redesign ad essay didn't end up being as difficult as I first expected.  Finding a specific ad was easy because there were endless magazines to chose from.  When it came to planning on how I was going to reconstruct my ad my ideas had a snowball effect, once I started rolling more and more ideas came to my mind.  The only challenges I faced when writing the essay was not writing in first person because most of the essays I write are on my opinion.  I overcame the challenge by simply thinking about my grade and re-wording my essay.  I liked how the essay makes you think about the original ad creators and how they try appeal to certain people sometimes and as a consumer you may not even notice that.  I feel like I have a greater understanding of rhetorical appeals, and the power of them.   I now know how to appeal to people in a more firm manner.  AI feel like this essay gave me a great understanding of how much thought is put into the making of an ad.  If I were to get a second chance at writing this essay I would just add more minor deails to create a more vivid picture in the reader of my essay's mind.

Blog On The Process

Literacy Timeline

When I sat down in class to begin my literacy timeline it didn't take that long for my idea to start flowing.  I tried to think back as far in my memory to when I first started speaking writing and reading. I took a step by step approach when writing my literacy timeline.  I was focused on my major achievements.  I noticed that I started with books then advanced to television, then from there moved on to music.  I went a bit outside the assignments requirements and did a lifetime timeline.  I talked abut the different events i remember that helped me become the literate young adult that i am today.  The experience in creating a timeline just really gave me an idea of how I am able to do the things academically that I can today.  The timeline let me reflect on my childhood knowledge obtained.

Literacy Narrative

It was easy for my to narrow down my thoughts to create a straightforward story.  Once I got rolling writing my essay the words came easy.  I wrote my story in chronological order.  I took the time to write a pretty good detailed rough draft so the final copy was just the updated version with less flaws.  The peer review just boosted my confidence in writing.  My partner showed me the strong parts of my story which made the slideshow an easy process.  My narrative was a nice reflection of my timeline, everything was precise and in order according to how it happened in my life.

While in the process of making the final edits I was brainstorming how I was going to turn the story into a video slideshow.  It didn't alter the way I would normally write a story because I feel like all written work can be put into visual form.

Animoto Slideshow

I think my partner chose 15 solid sentences.  Of those passages I probably use like 6 of them in my slideshow.  FOr my slideshow I re worded my sentences due to the 52 character limit per slide.  It wasn't hard to edit my slides to fit a set character limit because anybody with a twitter knows that you have a limited character limit so its sort of easy to take out the unnecessary words.  The pictures in my slideshow went perfectly with my presentation. I used the visuals to add detail and as compliments to my words.

Literacy Timeline

Literacy Timeline

My first word was _______.

In kindergarden my class and I began how to write in cursive

At home I watched Sesame Street all the time and learned words from the television

When I was in 4th Grade I wrote my first book and read it aloud at my uncles wedding, a book about his son.  It was a hard cover book.

In elementary school my dad forced my brothers and I to keep a journal, about our "thoughts" but he would read our journals so what was written was a limited amount to my true feelings towards life

Junior year in high school I took a creative writing class which helped me become the writer I am today

Sometimes when with friends we have cyphers on rare occasions where we rap for each other

Sometimes if I'm in "the zone" I will write down lyrics that I make up in my head and jot them down in my iPhone

I always disliked reading but  liked reading the Michigan Chillers when I was younger

I learned how to spell "independent" from a song by webbie, i learned how to spell "bananas" from a song called Holla Back by Gwen Stephani

Music introduced me to many of the words I know today, as well as how to use them

I don't read books in my free time, but i do look at blogs and tweets

Dustin Anderson Blog Response

Dustin Anderson Blog Response

 "Simply put, we can’t keep preparing students for a world that doesn’t exist. We can’t keep ignoring the formidable cognitive skills they’re developing on their own. And above all, we must stop disparaging digital prowess just because some of us over 40 don’t happen to possess it. An institutional grudge match with the young can sabotage an entire culture."

Digital natives will be taking over the world way sooner than digital immigrants may be able to fathom.  The youth filled generation is becoming more digitally literate at younger ages and we must stop trying to stray them away for the "new way" of learning and human interactions for human sake.

I agree completely with Dustin Anderson's statement above. Before we know it my generation (digital natives will soon b taking over the world.  As the baby boomer generation begins to enter their second half of life the next generation up is using technology more.  The world we live in today is changing at a drastic pace as well.  Before the internet, smart phones, tablets, and eBooks were invented they way students learned was through reading physical texts, and long hours of research in the library.  That was so 30 years ago.  In this day in age students have access to more knowledge than ever before at a fraction of the time needed than before.  Students are now more digitally literate and it needs to be embraced by the older generation.  That means education in general needs to be tailored to todays youth, meaning that classrooms need to become more up to date, more online assignments need to be given, more things need to become digitized. Times are changing and people are changing.  New Borns of todays generation may never know what the dewey decimal system was and thats perfectly acceptable, because they may know how to navigate the internet for information found in books with the click of a mouse.  Teachers need to stop using chalkboards and use smart boards.  What the digital immigrants need to understand simply is that technology isn't our enemy it is our friend and peer.  We need technology as much as technology needs us to improve it.  Teachers need to embrace sites such as google and wikipedia, knowledge is power and since students have knowledge readily available with the advances in the internet and other technologies, if education adapts to this new generations style of learning they should be able to learn at a more rapid rate.

Superman & Me Response

Superman and Me

Superman & Me is the tale on how an Indian man named Sherman Alexie learned to read using the Superman Comic strip.  Sherman was a boy that came from an Indian Reservation in Wellinit, Washington.  His story on figuring out how to read was quite inspirational.  He began reading at 3 years old which is sooner than most people can say they learned to read.  What was so interesting about Sherman's story was how he would figure out hat words meant by looking at the picture that the words were describing.  The story was also inspiring because Sherman was never pushed to excel in reading, it was something that he learned on his own. His will and passion for reading was something he got from his father since he loved to read but he did it all on his own.  Even after becoming a successful writer Sherman came back to his reservation to teach the new youth how to read and write to try and spark the minds of other children that are in the current position that he used to be in.

Literacy was so important to Sherman because he was smart and he knew it.  He did not let his financial circumstances as a child negatively affect his future.  Instead he took the tools he had (the books his father purchased from pawn shops) and began reading all the texts that he could physically get his hands on.   I agree with the way that Sherman became literate.  I am a firm believer that life is exactly what you make of it, and in my eyes Sherman had the will and desire to learn to read as well as write, and know he makes a living off of making his words and wisdom flow.

Hourihan Blog

To me a blog is a personal point of view by a writer or a group of writers.  In blogs I feel like the authors do not have to be politically correct in the content that they post.  Versus in a newspaper they must be politically correct and show different points of view.

Hourihan feels that blogs are a communication revolution because more and more people are writing on online sources rather than using paper and pencil.  With websites like bloodspot, and twitter peoples personal feelings can be viewed world wide for anybody with internet access to see.

I feel like keeping a blog in this class with be very advantageous for learning.  I think it will be beneficial because it allows students to write in their own "style" of writing.

To me when you publish something it is viewed by an editor and has multiple rough drafts, as opposed to a blog you can just straight state your opinion of something and submit it for the world to see instantly.

Writing Is Essential

Writing is an essential part of life as well as communication.  I am planning on becoming a business major and I feel that writing is important for that subject as well.  In business I feel that I will need to write to put my plans and thoughts in words for my employees and or boss.  If there is something new that I want my company to try I need to have vivid writing skills in order to thoroughly explain the message that I want to get across. I will need to know how to write short persuasive essays, short memos, and business letters. As of right now I feel that I am a decent writer that is good at descriptively getting my points and views across, I just need to improve a little bit on my grammar, word choice, and run-on sentences.