PostSecret #2

There are many moments in our lives when we are confronted with choices, different paths to walk along. It is not always simple to decipher which will lead you to your goal. If only there were a sign, or maybe an arrow to point you down the right path...

This Post Secret has a picture with a red arrow. The arrow is the center focus of the picture, however, it does not have it's full meaning until the text is placed across it. The word "I wish there were arrows to keep me going in the right direction" do not need a picture to go with them, however the picture does intensify the words. The red arrow is blatantly obvious, just like the signs that we would like to get to tell us how to reach our goal. The arrow in the picture and the word "arrows" are both red, connecting them on a visual plane. Everything else is in black and white. All the black and white relates to the fact that everything in the world can sometimes blend together and look the same, obscuring our view.

My secret: I wish there were arrows to keep me going in the right direction...because sometimes I'm afraid that I'm going the wrong way, or worse, stuck in neutral.

Post Secret #1

Stereotype - a generalized perception of first impressions: beliefs, and behaviors presumed by a group of people judging with the eyes/criticizing ones outer appearance(or a population in general) to be associated with another specific group.
--Wikipedia

To judge is to point fingers, but when you point your finger at someone else, you point three at yourself. All men (and women) are created equal, all in the image and likeness of God. For us to judge anyone else is wrong, plain and simple. For many of us, however, when we see or hear "Fried Chicken and Watermelon", we place a stereotype to this text. It is unfortunate, but our society has ingrained in our minds many different stereotypes, not only racial, but gender, age, and many more.

The image that I placed with the text speaks for itself, and it has no need for the words. The image is clearly dominant. I adjusted the image to look like a platter/tray. I did this because these stereotypes are handed to us on a platter at a very young age and repetition forces them to be carved into our memories. The font is unique and not plain, helping to draw attention to the words as well. The meaning of this PostSecret is unclear unless there is external knowledge about the creator. Since I am white, it creates a bit of irony.

I created this PostSecret to let everyone know that I am against stereotypes and that as a Caucasian, I LOVE FRIED CHICKEN AND WATERMELON.

Packaging

To produce a product that is appealing to both children and their parents is a difficult task. Children want something sweet and sugary, while the parents are interest in nutrition and health factors (for the most part). Those in the marketing profession keep this important fact in mind when they are designing the packaging. To grab the attention from a new consumer who has never tried your product before is the key element. Many employees ask themselves, “How am I going to make my package stand out on the shelf from the rest?”

The Meijer brand “Fruit Snacks” follow the norm for most children’s snack packaging. There is nothing out of the ordinary on this box. The bright, bold colors are attracting and eye catching, however, that is what most of the fruit snack packages look like. Their theme is “Veggie Tales”, a popular children’s show. The show’s aim is to “enhance the spiritual and moral fabric of society through creative media” (www.bigidea.com). The show is one that children enjoy and parents generally approve of. The characters are on the box, along with pictures of the fruit snacks that match their character. Though this is a good idea, most products include this on their packaging, therefore not making this product stand out. One key element to note is that all of the characters are smiling. They look extremely happy to be on this fruit snacks box, as if the fruit snacks themselves made the characters happy.

Though the pictures are the dominant feature on the box, there are various words on the front. They read “100% Daily Value of Vitamin C”, and “Made with Real Fruit Juice”. This text in sans serif font is not as bold as the name of the product, but still very evident. These are important facts to parents, but irrelevant to children. Since parents are the ones who buy the product, it is important to appeal to them as well.

This is a well designed advertisement on the package. Unfortunately, the designers did not do anything out of the ordinary to set their package apart from the rest. It is another mainstream design that falls into the background of our image-cluttered society.

PostSecret

I never imagined that a picture could describe what I was feeling in my heart so perfectly until I gazed upon this image. It is a simple photograph, a sky view of an expressway. There are cars zooming past the edges of the photo, yet each one seems small and insignificant. The busy background is then contrasted with simple words, words that are pasted in the foreground of the image. Together, they relay a message so strong that it shakes me to the core.

My boyfriend of almost three years is leaving in two weeks to go to Life University in Marietta, Georgia, to study Chiropractic. As thrilled as I am for him to be following his dreams, it breaks my heart to know that we will be so far apart of so long. Our relationship has withstood an hour and a half long distance relationship, but fourteen hours is entirely different. Though I know that “absence makes the heart grow fonder”, the distance will chip away at my heart, leaving me incomplete without him near.

With this in mind, I glance back at up at the somber image, reminding me with five simple words, the complete truth of the situation I find myself in. “You were worth every mile…” Though we may be miles and miles apart, I know that he is worth every heartache I’ll endure during the next few years. Our love is more precious than the money that I’ll be spending to drive down to see him, even if it’s just for a few glorious days.

In response to the image, the words and image both play key roles in delivering the message to the viewer. The words without the image are not as powerful. The cars emphasize the distance and how the individual had to travel at a great extent to be with their significant other. In addition, the image without the words looses the meaning entirely. Without the words, the picture is just a photograph of a busy expressway. The viewer would make their own association with the picture, such as urban traffic, but the words allow the artist to communicate to the reader the desired significance. Therefore, I conclude that the words and image are synchronized in a way that without the other, it would lose its full effect.

When I look at this photograph, I see my story. I identify in unison with the creator of this image. However, I do not know the artist, or his or her story. I wonder: “Who is this person? Who was worth every mile? Are they still together? Where was the other person? Why couldn’t they be together?” As these heuristic questions flash across my mind’s eye, I find that maybe it isn’t as significant as the meaning itself. Many are quick to conclude that long distance relationships are too hard, and rarely ever work. I believe if the love is strong enough, than it can withstand anything.

I believe the creator and I are in harmony on this one important fact that are summarized in the lyrics from Vanessa Carlton’s song 1000 Miles : “Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles if I could just see you. If I could just hold you....tonight.”

Class Discussioin - 9-11-08

How do we come to accept a drawing of something as the thing itself?

As the professor asked this question, I saw many blank among my peers. I believe everyone was a bit stunned by the context of this question. For as long as I can remember, a ♥ meant "love". But why? And why do we call it a heart? A heart looks more like a shape of a fist.

Culture associations become habit. From a young age, we are given images and our parents or significant others in our lives help us to learn what these mean. For Christians, a cross signifies Christianity, Jesus Christ, and Redemption. Someone mathmatically inclined might first see an addition symbol. Either way, it is because of what we have been taught and observed from youth.

Use Your Voice - Writing as a Performance

Writing is a detailed process. There are certain steps and procedures that are “recommended” for a successful paper to be produced. These steps have been embedded into our minds from a very young age. As students, we were told what to write and how to write, leaving very little room for our own interpretation. My high school English teacher, Mrs. Cramer, taught me more about writing than any other teacher had up until that point. She taught me how to use my “voice”.

For many of you, it seems paradoxical for me to say that you need to write with “voice”. Voice is used during speaking; how could it be used in writing? A brief explanation should clear this up. The voice that Mrs. Cramer taught me was the following:

V – Valentine Heart – draws the reader near
O – Opinions – make your stand clear
I – Ingenious – honest, open, sincere
C – Courageous – nothing to fear
E – Enthusiasm – words you can hear

“Voice” is a matter of writing with your own personality and your own creativity. Without your ideas and your imagination, they are simply words on a paper. In her creative writing course, she rarely chose a topic, allowing free expression from all of her students. My portfolio was quite full at the end of the year, full of a variety of different genres of poetry and styles.

The process of writing involves thousands of choices, the first being what to write about. In many cases, you are prompted with a question, idea, or topic to discuss. Though it may seem limiting, it is helping your mind to narrow down the wide variety of topics you could have chosen to the one that will best fit the purpose or class. The organization of thoughts is crucial to any form of writing. That is why it is recommended that some sort of brainstorming, such as an outline, web, or list, is done before the writing actually begins. In writing, every word you choose changes the path of the story. Be sure to choose your words wisely, as to best portray the message intended. The audience will, in a sense, be hanging on every word. Without these precious words, it would be impossible to express to others our thoughts. Proofreading is essential as well, because we are all humans and make mistakes. Even if there is not a grammatical error, there may have been a point when the paper wavered or possibly missed the point completely. There may be sentences that need rearranging to better express the idea at hand.

There are many circumstances in which we must follow a guideline in our writings. Any formal essay must include an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The thesis must be stated in the introduction, and restated in the conclusion. A minimum of three sentences must be in every paragraph. Yet within these guidelines, you can work magic. You can open up your mind and allow your “voice” to shine through. The active verbs and detailed descriptions allow your paper to jump to life, as it should. Even a term paper can be springing with excitement amongst lines and lines of facts. It is all how you present the facts. The presentation is the expression, the expression of your “voice”.

Image Analysis

In our class discussion, we broke into groups to analyze different images. Angela and I were given the photograph by O. Winston Link called "Hot Shot Eastbound" taken in 1955. This picture appears to be in a typical "date" setting in the 1950's. The scene is one of a drive-in packed with a-typical cars. There is a couple in the forefront of the picture in their car. Looking there, the audience follows their eyes to the screen. We noticed that a movie with an airplane is playing. The screen is blocked by smoke, which is coming from the train that is zooming past the audience. The telephone lines are also evident. The lighting seems strange. We know the setting to be at night because they are at a drive-in, but the entire picture is well light, which is awfully strange. This leads us to believe that it is a posed picture. The 3 modes of transportation, along with the form of communication (telephone lines), seem to be the general theme of the picture.

Performance - Commencement Ceremony

Traffic lights and two lane highways are unheard of from where I come from; cow farms and corn fields are much more familiar. As a small town girl, I naturally attended a very rural school my whole life. Peck Community School was a K-12 school, meaning there was one building for all grades, kindergarten through twelfth grade. In a small school, every event is a big event, including my high school graduation.

After a grueling thirteen years of education in at Peck High School, I was announced Valedictorian for the Class of 2007. I had worked my whole career as a student to reach that point, and I was finally able to say that I reached my goal. But with that position, I was given the responsibility of preparing a speech. What were the last words I would say to the students I had spent so much time with?

In addition to this honor and responsibility, I was the class president. I was in charge of making sure everything was in place for the “big day”. The flowers were ordered, the chairs were set up, the backdrop was designed, and the music was ready… There was so much left to do and so little time to do it. I wanted everything to be perfect so that when we walked in and out of that gym for the final time, we would have a beautiful memory to look back upon. We had rehearsal the Friday before the commencement ceremony. We practiced how we were to walk down the aisle, when to sit and when to stand, and how to walk across the stage. We were briefed about the order of events that were to take place the following Sunday.

The commencement ceremony finally arrived. My knees were shaking and my eyes were watering as I walked down the aisle with my boyfriend/best friend by my side. When all of my classmates had proceeded into the gymnasium, “Pomp and Circumstance” ended, and we were motioned to sit by our superintendent, Mr. Bush. After he had welcomed the students, family, faculty, and community to this event, he turned the microphone over to Mr. Roles, our principal. He gave a brief speech about our class as a whole, then began introducing the valedictorian, me. I could hardly pay attention to a word he said, because I was rehearsing my speech over and over in my head. I finally made my way to the stage. I began my speech with a joke, and kept it light, but heartfelt, mentioning those closest to me. I had people laughing, crying, and applauding. It was definitely a success.

Afterwards, the salutatorian gave her speech. Mr. Roles announced the top students and their grade point averages. He then went on to announce scholarship recipients. Now, it was time for the part the whole crowd was waiting for, the calling of the names to receive their diplomas. As class president, I was given the honor of calling off the names of my classmates. They came up, received their diploma from Mr. Roles and shook Mr. Bush’s hand. Some of my classmates broke the tradition and gave me a hug in front of almost the entire community. This is one of the most memorable moments of my high school career. At the conclusion, our class song, “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts, was played as we walked out of the gym for the final time.

This ritual is performed across the United States, as well as in many other countries with slight variations. This is the routine that is typically followed in Peck. One spontaneous event that happened was my friends and classmates hugging me. That meant so much to me, and it showed others just how close this class of ours was.

The entire front of the gymnasium was part of the performance. The stage was the central focus point for most people. It was where all of the “important” things took place. But immediately following was the graduating class. It was there that the parents and loved ones looked to see their graduate. The ceremony itself took approximately two hours, a short time in comparison to how long it took me to prepare for it. Part of the audience, specifically the students, was co-participants to the commencement ceremony. We were all in our caps and gowns, flooding the front of the gym in red and white. Everyone followed the ritual to a T, so that the ceremony ran smoothly. However, the observers, parents, faculty, family, and community members, were separated from the event.

As we said our good-byes to each other, we said good-bye to a small town that meant so much to all of us. As we faced our future, we would always remember our past, and each other. Peck, Michigan is my home town, and I’m proud to be a small town girl.

Mark Twain - Ethos, Logos, Pathos

During Thursday's class period, I was paired with Angela Amormino to analyze the persuasive features of a picture of Mark Twain. It was a black and white picture of him working at a desk. In the category of ethos, Mark looked very sophisticated, as he is well-dressed in a white suit. His appearance gives the impression that he is competent. Mark Twain is highly revered in the literary world, as many if his books are best sellers. Therefore, the logical appeal is that he is intelligent, and must be reliable. In addition, he has many books on his table, implying that hes has done research for his new project. He looks diligent at work at his desk. The emotional appeal was his small cabin/house appears to be quaint and down to earth. He fits the stereotype for authors, writing alone in a secluded area. The place is messy, making him appear more human, thus being easier to relate to.