Finale: Use of ETHOS

This semester of English I have learned so much about arguments and argumentative writing. I have learned about Ethos. Ethos is the showing of a person's personality in their writing. I have used ethos so much this semester in my papers. I like incorporating my personality in my writing, in my opinion it makes my writing more influential and stronger. A person can read my writing and understand some of my morales and stances without ever meeting me in person or hearing my voice. When I write I feel tranquil, it is a chance for me to escape my stresses around me and give me some alone time. I hope to influence people with my writing in a way to where they can identify with me and understand both sides of a story. A person can read one of my argumentative papers and easily see my personality and what my morals are by reading my paper.



My first argumentative paper was actually my first blog about the Dove advertising campaign for Beauty. I wrote about how advertising companies use appealing objects to get people interested in their product such as super models and beautiful things. I chose the Dove campaign for Beauty because they use their advertisements to appeal to the actual customers purchasing their product. They established a common ground with their customers such as the issue of insecurity to make their product more appealing to the people purchasing the product. I also incorporated Lady Gaga in the paper because she believes in being comfortable in your own skin, and that is the point of the Dove advertising.



My second argumentative paper was about keeping kids safe online. I discussed various ways that inappropriate websites were easy to hack into by children who are under the legal age. I also included various ways for parents to try and keep their children off such sites. I talked about how it is way to easy to view inappropriate content online. I included my stance about the issue and how I disagreed with inappropriate content being accessible online. I also proved how easy it is to lie and say that a person is of age to be able to view the material. It is ridiculous how easy it is to find inappropriate content and then to view it. I also included the argument that porn sites propose on how it is not easy, and how they are not meaning to target children.



My third argumentative paper was the Rogerian paper, which I found the most difficult. This paper was the most challenging because I had to remain neutral on my topic which was hard to do for me. When I feel strongly about something I make sure to get what I stand for across and let people know exactly how I feel about the issue. I wrote my Rogerian paper about whether gay marriage should be legalized or not. I think that it should but in this particular paper I explained each of the sides thoroughly and then at the end I had to come up with a compromise that both sides could agree too. The side that was for gay marriage stated that being married is about love no matter what sexual orientation a person falls into. The opposing side said that it goes against religion and that it is not traditional. It would make our society look bad. I came up with an agreement that gay people should get married but if a certain church did not feel right marrying homosexuals then they had the right to refuse, just like some churches refuse interracial marriage, but that there would be some churches open to marrying gay people.



Lastly I thought I would introduce myself so that way you can get a better understanding of who I am as a person. I am a freshman at the University of Oklahoma. I am a parent and I write for the campus newspaper. My major is Sociology/ Criminology and my minors are psychology, and spanish. I am an open minded person and I enjoy several types of music. I love hanging out with my friends and family. I enjoy writing and helping people. I can see both sides of situations other than my own opinion. I like kneeboarding and hiking. My english composition 2 class this semester has influenced and helped my ability to write. I hope you enjoyed my blogs, even though I am not the best blogger. If you did like my blogs though you never know I might have more to come in the future. Stay in touch.

Fast and Slow Food

I recently learned in my English class about the harmful effects of fast food including technology. I also learned about slow food and what it was.



So we all know what fast food is. It is well. food you can eat fast. It also is very harmful for us. Don't get me wrong I like fast food and I participate in purchasing it frequently. It is harmful for our bodies though. It is loaded down in fat. Also the fast food industry is making millions of dollars while our people are becoming more obese. A lot of people use the excuse that its cheaper to eat fast food. That organic food or healthy food is more expensive and yes it is but I would much rather spend a few more dollars to eat healthy than to eat cheap and take a few years off of my life for being obese and unhealthy.



Slow food is food we make ourselves. We put time and effort in preparing the food. One part of slow food that I like is the use of organic food. Where local farmers grow the food without the use of pesticides and hormones. It is naturally grown food. I also learned that if enough people joined together to promote slow food and there was a greater demand for it then there would be more farmers to produce the food and it wouldn't cost as much money. Fast food is cheaper most of the time but do you know what you are actually consuming? Do you know what kinds of harmful chemicals that you are putting in your body? Do you know where the food that you are purchasing comes from? Take Tyson for example, When you are eating their chicken nuggets do you think about where it comes from or do you just eat it? Well the chickens they use come from filthy farms, where there chickens are all bunched together and sleeping and walking in their own feces daily.



Slow food or fast food I will let you decide for yourselves. After learning all about slow food in English I have really enjoyed home cooking and healthier foods way more. It makes me feel healthy to consume slow food which makes me a happier person knowing that what i am eating has a positive effect on my body and on the environment. So next time you go to enjoy a big juicy hamburger or some greasy chicken nuggets just remember the slow and fast food facts.

History of Technology

Before Technology, life was more simple. After Technology, life has sped up. It is more hectic and fast paced. Before technological advances work was harder. People would have callus on their hands from working so hard. People still have callus on their hands in today's society but it is not as common. It was more hard to get stuff done. Today chores and everyday activities are fairly easy thanks to technological advances.




Back then most people wanted things to be more simple so they thought that with technology they would be more happy but as the comic illustrates people are still unhappy. People are unhappy today because they are afraid that their children will not learn as much about academics and life because technology consumes their life. Video games and cell phones are also nice to have but they have caused people to worry about the generations of the future and our life now.



In modern times life is more entertaining in my opinion. However, I also think that our society is moving at a fast pace. I think that if life was a mix between the old days and now then it would be great. But its not, and our society is moving faster and faster I wish that we could slow it down just a little and look at the world around us. I wish that we could take time to notice nature around us and all the beautiful, tranquil objects that God put around us to admire.



I would not prefer to have lived before cell phones because they make life so much easier, and more convenient. I know that I can get on my cell phone and call anyone of my friends and family members and talk with them right now at this very minute. I feel in sync and in touch with the people around me, but not so much with the outdoors and with nature like people used to be. If someone can find that medium to where they can be calm and be outside without technology but have technology there when a person needs it, I think all would be great. That it just my opinion though it's up to everyone else to decide which they prefer?

Lady Gaga

We all know Lady Gaga for her bizarre personality and her outrageous style. We think she is so original and unique and she is in a way but what about the other celebrities that I have noticed, who are similar to her but they do not get as much publicity,and they were pulling off weirdness way before she got famous. I am a big fan of Lady Gaga and I do think that she is awesome, all I am saying is that everyone is saying Lady Gaga- she is so weird but original. But here lately I have noticed so many weird celebrities and she would definately fall in that category but she is not the only one like that. We kind of ignore the other celebrities who dress weird but she is worshipped for it even though she was not the first celebrity to dress in such a way, and to tell people to feel comfortable in your own skin. The other celebrities we kind of classify them as super weird or freaks, or trashy but Lady Gaga can be pretty much naked or just wear something outrageous and see through and we love it. We think that she is so awesome and Lady Gaga is not trashy, she is unique. Lets take a look at some other celebrities and what they wore and compare their outfits to Lady Gaga's. What makes her different from any other celebrity who has money and who wants to stick out of the norm?




For example Madonna wore outrageous outfits for her time such as the dress made out of grass and people just viewed her as trashy and she showed to much skin, now it is more acceptable to do that but still.





Gwen Stefani who was very similar to Madonna in many ways also had a different view of fashion than the other celebrities.




Nicki also dresses weird and she is very similar to Lady Gaga only she is black not white. She does not receive as much publicity for the way she dresses either.





Marilyn Manson dresses extremely weird, and even though he is a different sex than Lady Gaga he did not get as much publicity for the way that he dresses, he just is referred to as scary looking. Maybe it has to do with what kind of music they perform and how they dress as well. Maybe that is the difference I do not really know I just know that she is not the only one who dresses ridiculously weird so she is not completely unique.



I think that she dresses like that to show other people you do not have to fit in and you can be an individual, but I also think that it is a publicity stunt so that way she can make more money and stick out to become even more famous. Like I said I completely love Lady Gaga, she is great but I am just trying to figure her out from a different perspective and show that she is not as unique as everyone seems to think. She does not always dress crazy as demonstrated in her picture above. She actually looks like a "normal" model on the cover of Elle. If she really wanted to make a statement would she not want to dress crazy for the cover? She is a fascinating individual but she also is similar to other celebrities. She does dress crazy but also normal at times. But she also gets more publicity when she dresses outrageous, what do you think?

A Day Without Technology

I remember when I was younger and not many people had cellphones. Now I could not imagine a day without one. When I was younger I had a house phone so when my friends and I wanted to talk I called my friends land lines. Now all of my friends have cell phones. I got my first cell phone the christmas of my eighth grade year. I was so excited! Back then I was almost fifteen and the year was 2004. It was a simple motorola Kyocera flip phone, my other friends had regular phones, at the time my phone was among the coolest. Now phones have touch and projector screens and internet. If that tells you how much phones have changed in just 6 years. When I first got my phone everyone just called each other, no one texted. Now almost everyone, even my own grandma texts.
My grandparents always tell me about the times when they were young and they had to find their own means of entertainment. Back before their were phones or even televisions. Back when their were numerous amounts of farms, and people grew their own food. The generation currently in high school was a part of the rapidly growing economy full of technological advances, they can not even remember the slow economy from before very well. The students in elementary school are even more a part of the technology evolution. First graders have cell phones now. When people get hungry they pull into drive thru's to pick up dinner if they feel too tired to cook. The economy had changed dramatically in the past 40 years. Everything in this world is moving extremely fast.
I cannot go a day without using some sort of technology now, I might could have before I had so much exposure to it, but now that I have I do not want to go without it. Technology is like a rapidly growing disease, once you have it you can not get rid of it. Almost everything relies on technological advances. Most people do not want to go back to the simpler time before this technology boom. People prefer the more entertaining chaotic way of society in modern times. Back when my grandparents were little they played games outside and actively used their imagination, today most kids can not use their own imagination, because they are constantly exposed to the imaginations of other people.
There are some aspects of todays society that people enjoy but every once in awhile its nice to try and get a way to a time of relaxation and tranquility. To take time away from the hectic style of modern life and take a step back to enjoy the nature aspect not just the technological aspect.

Real Beauty

All of us young adults have insecurities that we have had to deal with since around the time we hit puberty and in some cases maybe even younger. Media has specified a certain image as to what we are supposed to look like, and if we look any different than this image we are not considered beautiful. The typical image for a woman is supposed to be tall, thin and media's version of beautiful, and preferrably white and blonde. Well in reality, the majority of women do not fit in this category. I believe that all people should feel comfortable in their own skin. I relate to this video because this is how I used to feel about myself, and I am sure most of you have felt the same. It's normal to feel insecure in the modern society because of this image produced by media that we are supposed to fulfill. Some men and women alike think that if they do not fit this image they are not handsome or beautiful. Sometimes people even go to extremes and take diet pills or have some sort of surgery to move towards looking like this image. The people who created this "perfect" image do not even look like this ideal image. I am tired of looking through magazines and the women used in advertising, the models, are all thin and close to this ideal image. Average people buy the products being advertised so I personally would rather see people like myself, advertising the product. These ideal images about what we are supposed to look like is absurd, and teaches younger generations that they need to strive to look as close as possible to this ideal image, making normal people feel insecure about their features.

The other side to this commercial is that Dove's name is attached to this campaign for beauty commercial. The Dove company is establishing a common ground for normal people such as myself by identifying with something such as insecurity that people who are going to be buying the product can relate to. They are targeting audiences of younger and older generations whom will be purchasing Dove's products. Another issue with these commercials are its almost as if white women are more beautiful and more superior to minorities because the commercials are predominately white women with the exception of a few minority women.

I would suggest that media should strive to break down the level of insecurities men and women have about themselves. They can advertise more about being comfortable in your own skin and being happy with oneself as a person, such as Dove with the exception of broadening the image of self acceptance, more specifically with cultural differences and including a wide variety of ethnicities. Our country has been about this self image for so long that people almost feel like this "perfect" image is normal. Most celebrities who younger generations look up to also try and reflect this ideal image. However, some celebrities now more than ever are trying to advocate self acceptance such as Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga is not easily accepted in the world of celebrities, saying that she feels that she should be more connected with her fans and letting them know it's ok to be who you are naturally. She has built her whole career off of self acceptance and trying to "break" the ideal image that media has created for beauty. I used Lady Gaga because she is a true example of beauty that relates to the message that the Dove commercial is conveying. Even though she happens to be blond headed,white,thin and beautiful she is not the normal beautiful that media always portrays.She wants people to feel comfortable in their own skin, no matter what their shape or size, however, with her fitting the stereotypical model it is difficult to look at her and then accept ourselves for the way we are, like she says to do because she just so happens to fit the stereotype of media's version of beauty. She tells everyone to be who you are no matter how weird or who that person is and no matter how genuine her intentions are in her heart for wanting everyone to feel beautiful, a person looks at her and sees behind the different clothes and make up she is a person who media would consider beautiful.

The dove commercials mostly use younger girls. They picked this generation not because those are the people purchasing the product but because a lot of young adults as well as parents who sympathize with this young generation. They see the young girls feeling bad about their self image and they want to strive to change this image into a more realistic one, so they are more likely to buy a few of Dove's products to help with the campaign for beauty. The young girls represent innocence so it makes people feel like it is up to them to help change the minds of the innocent before they are exposed to media's way of thinking about beauty and self expression.

The campaign for beauty dove commercials are just one of many examples of how media is changing self image and ones way of perceiving oneself. Dove's commercials tend to try and convey a certain message but at the end they fail in doing so by leaving out women who fall into minority groups. The issue of insecurity is becoming more of a problem with our society today, but people ,such as Lady Gaga, are beginning to notice and take steps towards fixing this social issue and telling younger generations that it is ok to be yourself. If only the beauty for campaign Dove commercials could make more commercials that include different diversities of women.