My Ad

bLoG fIve

Well to remind everybody what my argument essay topic was, it was arguing against the top-ten percent rule here in Texas. The top-ten percent rules guarantees any High School senior graduating within the top-ten percent from a public high school acceptance to any public University no matter the students' GPA, SAT or ACT scores. I argued that the top-ten percent rule was unfair to students that graduated just outside of the top-ten percent by making it virtually impossible for them to get into top-ranked public universities like the University of Texas at Austin. I also argued that the rule was unfair to out of state students because they are not qualified for the top-ten percent rule.

I will be redirecting my argument from students at TCU to Parents of students in the Texas Public School system. I turned my essay into a magazine ad. It could also be used as a flyer or even easily turned into a commercial. The add it completely black and the wording is white. There are two pictures and both of them are in black and white. The only color on the ad is the word 'no' which is in red. I decided to make the ad 'talk' to the reader by referring to their child. Thus, the words 'your child' appear on the ad multiple times. By referring to the reader's child, the ad contains lots of pathos. The pictures will hopefully make the reader put themselves and their child in the situations pictured to greater play on their emotions. There is not any logos in the ad and very little ethos, if any, either. I also use the reader's ignorance towards the subject to my advantage in the ad. I have found through my research that many parents that have not had children effected by the top-ten percent rule are unaware it exists. Knowing this, my ad could convince any parent that the top-ten percent rule could prevent their child from attending a public university. Most people will then be quick to make a judgement on it and neglect to further research the truth behind the rule. Though this may sound like the ad takes advantage of people, if you think about it, every single form of advertisement relies on the basis of human ignorance, quick judgement and unwillingness to seek the truth.

Throughout this semester, I have learned that the rhetoric process is one that is easily changeable simply depending on what the writing is trying to say and to what audience is preferred. For example, in the final essay, my argument featured much more logos and ethos when trying to convince the class of my position however, when trying to convince parents of my stance I found it easiest to use pathos. I have also learned that being able to connect the reader with the writer and the subject is the key to producing a quality essay.

Number Threeeeeeeee

How do the authors Casassa and Dudley enact in their pieces what you learned about ethnography in Chapters 10 & 12?

What are some effective ways they describe the culture they are studying? Cite examples.

What evidence do the authors provide for their interpretations of the culture they are studying? Give specifics.

What specific research can you do to provide similar evidence for your own potential topic? Why? Give specifics.

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In The Coffee Shop and The Dope on Head Shops, both authors use “features of the form” (Ballenger 373) of Ethnographies as described by Ballenger. In the Ethnography The Coffee Shop, writer Andrea Casassa “focus[es] on groups of people who identify themselves as group members.” This particular section from Casassa’s paper focuses on unique customers throughout the day that can identify themselves as coffee shop customers. From the “early morning customers” (Casassa B32) to the “soccer moms” (Casassa B34), all are members of the Coffee house customers group. Also, Casassa makes it is quite obvious that “The bulk of the [her] research takes place in the natural settings where group members gather” (Ballenger 373). Rather than observe coffee shop customers at their house or in a store, Casassa watches all of the people from The Gourmet. She is able to describe first hand how “the early morning customers always seem crazy…” (Casassa B32) from her experience watching them. In The Dope on Head Shops, writer Mathew Dudley is able to show his paper is also a Ethnography by focusing on “Groups of people who identify themselves as group members” (Ballenger 373) just as Casassa did. Dudley focusing on a particular Head Shop in Boston called “The Hempest” (Dudley B29). Within this Head Shop, Dudley discusses the items and the people that all identify with The Hempest. Finally, Dudley’s ethnography also “looks closely at the few to get hints of the big picture” (Ballenger 374). Dudley focuses on individual items in the store such as “Pins, rings…and lollipops” that are made with “THC” (Dudley B42) to get clues about Marijuana usage as a whole.

In The Coffee Shop, Andrea Casassa effectively describes the people from the coffee shop culture she is studying. She describes the “Early morning customers”, the “Soccer Moms” and the “Students” (Casassa B33-34) she sees daily around the shop. She details how each group arrives at different times and how each group acts different. The “early morning customers” appear around “7:00 A.M.” and always seem to be in “chipper moods” (Casassa B32). When the “students” are around, “Cell phones ring” and “Teenage gossip can be heard” (Casassa B34). However, Casassa realizes that these different groups of people are “Familiar” and “Just right” for her (Casassa B35). In The Dope on Head Shops, Mathew Dudley effectively describes Head Shops from the Marijuana culture he is studying. Dudley describes the beginnings of these head shops in “the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco in 1966” (Dudley B39) to their battle with U.S. restriction on Hemp with the “Drug Enforcement Agency” (Dudley B43). He also describes all of the unique items that can be found in the Head Shops. From “Small jewelry” to “hemp nutrition bars, pretzels or lollipops [that] is the same as smoking a joint…” when you eat one (Dudley B42-43).

In The Coffee Shop, Casassa evidently interprets the Home-town Coffee Shop Culture as one that is “Familiar”. All of the customers in the store are “familiar [and] just right” in her mind. Even after being away at college, Casassa makes a journey “back to the Hopkinton Gourmet to visit some of its regulars” (Casassa B35). There, the familiar “Rituals” of the past are still alive (Casassa B36). In The Dope on Head Shops, Dudley interprets the Head Shop culture as a culture that will “Survive.” Though the shops “have continually changed to fit new social standards and laws”, Dudley believes the Head Shops “may well survive these…changes” (Dudley B43).

Specific research that I can do to provide similar evidence for my topic is interviewing and observing. By interviewing, I can get first-hand opinions of what active member of the sub-culture I am studying believe and think about their participation in the sub-culture. By observing, I will be able to see what it is like to live within the sub-culture first hand without relying on second-hand documentation for my paper.

Blogo Numero Dos...

Show and explain how Garrett-Brown and Holmquist are discovery essays rather than traditional research papers.

• What is the overall controlling idea of each, and how does each author show and support it?

• The two authors include their own voices but still employ research: how do they do that successfully (or not)?

• How do these essays—and Ballenger’s suggestions for research papers (p. 429-33)—help you think about how you might approach Essay 2?

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In the two essays “Why Do People Tan” and “An Experience in Acronyms” both essayists use features of the discovery or Research essay as told by Ballenger. In “Why Do People Tan”, essayist Amy Garrett-Brown is driven to write by a particular question, “Why Do People Tan” (title, Garrett-Brown 459), “not an answer” (Ballenger 432). Also, her “Source Material is used in the service of what writers are trying to say” (Ballenger 433). Rather than just piling tons of facts into her essay, Garrett-Brown uses them to answer her discovery question. She answers it by stating (from Seventeen Magazine) that “2/3 of the teens say they look better with a tan…” (Garrett-Brown 460) then she goes on to form an opinion bases on that statistic. One other form Garrett-Brown uses is that she gives all credit to all sources used. In order to answer her question about tanning, Garrett-Brown uses sources from Nutrition Health Review: The Consumer’s Medical Journal, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, St. Louis Dispatch and Cool Nurse (Garrett-Brown 461). In “An Experience in Acronyms”, Holmquist also uses many features of the form in his discovery essay. Holmquist is also driven by a question rather than an answer. After an witnessing a drug overdose, Holmquist wants to know “…[is what] so many people say is harmless, really that bad for you?” (Holmquist B24). That question is why Holmquist wanted to write the essay; he wanted to discover. Holmquist also does a good job in embedding his “source material…in the service of what [he] the writers [is] are trying to say” (Ballenger 433). Though he uses a lot of statistics and facts, Holmquist is able to “actively use the information” (Ballenger 433) to then base his opinions on drug use. Finally, Holmquist also clearly states his thesis. Though it comes towards the middle of his essay his thesis, [are they] really that bad for you?” (Holmquist B24), can be clearly understood and the reader will understand what Holmquist wants to discover.

In “Why Do People Tan”, Garrett-Brown’s controlling idea is “What is right may not always be popular, what is popular may not always be right.” Garrett-Brown realizes the popularity of wanting to be tan however, she sees that this popularity has wrongly degraded the meaning of being tan from being an active person to meaning “you spent $45 a month building a tan base” (Garrett-Brown 460). Also, while she would “feel better about putting on a bathing suit if [she] I’m [is] not so starkly white…” (Garrett-Brown 460) she also see the future health concerns of possible “battle[s] at worst and saggy skin…” (Garret-Brown 460). “An Experience in Acronyms” has a controlling idea of “The Truth Hurts”. Holmquist is not afraid to admit that he “like[s] [his] my drugs” (Holmquist B29). However he cannot stand to take drugs anymore because of the harsh truth that “They [Drugs] will kill you.”

Essayist Garrett-Brown does little to emphasize voice in her essay. Though there are lines when her voice appears such as “Hmmm…am I a hypocrite?” (Garrett-Brown 459) and “Bastardized tan” (Garrett-Brown 460) her essay tends to just ‘move along’ with her sources. Though there is less voice, the essay is easy to read and the reader (at least from my perspective) is not begging for her to “Get on with it”. Holmquist however, it able to provide a much better example of his voice. “Cuddle Puddles and Ecstasy tar pools” (Holmquist B26) and other terminology from his first hand experiences adds voice to the sources and his essay all together. Though his voice does add character and meaning to his essay, from a readers perspective (my perspective) there is a point at which his voicing becomes too much, and he should just get on with the essay. This is evident while he discuses “flashbacks” (Holmquist B27). Combined with the sources, his voicing becomes too much.

After reading the two discovery essays and Ballenger’s suggestions on writing a discovery essay I believe I will approach essay two with an open mind. I usually do not enjoy writing research papers because I only end up writing about and expanding statistics or facts. However, with a research essay, I believe that I will be allowed to write with my personal opinion and narrative as the main subject with statistics as a backdrop to support my ideas. Knowing that I can write on almost any topic and with a new education on research essays, I am definitely looking forward to writing essay two.

And so it begins...Blog #1

"In what ways do Hogg and Black demonstrate the features of the form Ballenger talks about on p. 94? Be sure to give specific examples. In what ways do they differ from his description? Finally: what do you think is the controlling idea (the “so what”) of Hogg’s and Black’s essays?”

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In "I'm a Believer" and “The Joy of Mud” both authors utilize what Ballenger calls “features of the form” (Ballenger 94). These features highlight and help categorize the two stories and personal essays. Both essays are written in the form of first person. Because both essays are written in first person, it allows for the reader to feel a greater emotional connection to authors rather than if the essays had been written about someone (third person). Ballenger states that is the “tension between the subject and the writer as the writer reaches for new understandings” (Ballenger 94) is what makes personal essays in first person work. Also, both essays rely on the authors’ memories of their past experiences to bring their personal essays to life. Hogg in “I’m a Believer” states that she is recalling memories “[From] in 1977, at the age of six”(Hogg B1) while Black in “The joy of Mud” state that it was an “endless summer [she] I remember[ed] so well.” (Black B11) Both authors’ are clearly going back to their past and recalling fond memories to explain their experiences. One finale Similarity both essays have with Ballenger’s forms is that both are written as Narratives. Both authors’ clearly tell not only the physical story but also a story of the authors’ feelings and thoughts. In “I’m a Believer”, we are not only told of the story of how much Charlotte loves Davy Jones of the Monkees but, we are also told of how much Charlotte’s thoughts, emotions and realizations towards Davy Jones matures over her lifetime. In “The Joy of Mud”, Catherine Black tells her physical story of working in “Knee deep" mud (Black B12) in a forest in Hawai’i all the while telling an emotional story of how she longs to “belong” somewhere.

While these personal essays following most of Ballenger’s feature of the form, they also contain writing styles that go against the form for writing personal essays. Ballenger notes that “the subject of the essay is often a common place.” (Ballenger 94) Though the subjects the authors write about may be a common place to them, they are obviously not common places to most readers. Hogg finds herself embracing Davy [David] Jones in almost every form and fashion. While Black tells of the time she found herself in knee high mud searching for harvestable taro. Both of these situations cannot be deemed “common Subjects” (Ballenger 94) to the readers.

Finally, I believe the controlling idea in Charlotte Hogg’s essay is that no matter how much you read or follow a person, you will never get to know the true person until you actually “meet” them. Basically, 'don’t judge a book by its cover'. In the end, Charlotte finally realized that the Davy Jones she had read and worshiped for years may or may not have been like real David Jones person, not the singer/actor. In “The Joy of Mud” the controlling idea is that 'Home is where the heart is.' Though she was not born nor raised in Hawai’i, Catherine Black finds herself realizing, while searching through mud that Hawai’i was her true home and where she belonged.