English Class Summary

I have enjoyed my English 402 class this semester. The two things I have learned are how to write good memos and the concept of rhetoric. I have gained tremendous confidence in my writing ability through the required memos in the class. It has been many years since my last English class and I wasn't sure how I would do. I am now confident I can write good memos in the workplace. I can't wait to experience this for the first time.
The concept of rhetoric will also be something I will never forget. I realize I am almost always thinking about rhetoric when I see a commercial on television. My wife gets irritated with me when I point out the rhetoric being used in commercials.
I also enjoyed the group project. I think we did a good job. The marketing kit turned out great. It looks so authentic, I think we should consider actually making the product. This project made me realize that anyone could market a product. You don't need to have a big budget to create and implement a good idea. Just people who care and want to succeed.

Informative & Inspirational Tom

Tom Sumner's lecture was very informative. It was interesting to hear how book publishing is changing. I was still under the impression that what he referred to as the "old way" of publishing still existed. I was never familiar with the channels authors had to go through before they became known, but I thought once they have become well known authors, publishers threw money at them just to have the opportunity to publish their books. It definitely makes sense to pay authors once profit is made versus assuming the book will be successful.
Another way publishing is changing that Tom talked about was how anyone can get a book published. This is great for someone who is unfamiliar with how to get a book published through a big-name publisher. I have had thoughts about writing a book someday and knowing that it is easier than I thought to get a book published is great.
One last point I would like to mention, is how passionate Tom is about his job. It is always wonderful to see someone love what they do. I know many people who are content with their lives, but they would admit there is something they rather be doing. There have been many obstacles in my life and seeing someone like him reminds me that it is possible to achieve your goals and dream.

Modern Advertising

I felt the video we watched in class was very interesting. The one idea the video mentioned that really made me think was the idea of DVR allowing people to fast forward through commercials. Being the video was taped in 2004, they predicted most households will have DVR in 5 years and companies will have to start advertising in the shows people are watching. At first, this seems ridiculous in a sense that the advertising will take away from the quality of the programs people watch.
I was discussing this idea with my wife last night and agree that this is the only way to really reach customers on television. My wife and I's favorite show on Wednesdays that we watched last night is Modern Family. Ironically, the majority of the show was based on the new Apple IPAD. Throughout the whole program I was judging it to see if I felt the use of this advertising took away from the show. Surprisingly, it worked very well. I still laughed my ass off and the IPAD was just a prop for the actors to use with their comedy. I think they did so well that Apple's stock will probably be going up in the near future. I can see many fans of the show going out to buy the Apple IPAD.
Another aspect of irony is how I am talking about the IPAD and whoever reads this will now be aware of the new product.

New Analyzing Words

The whole concept of rhetoric is the biggest thing I have learned in this English class. I don't recall ever hearing this term before now. Almost every time I see a new unfamiliar commercial on television, I am thinking about what form of rhetoric is being used. It is definitely obvious that almost all commercials primarily use logos to advertise their products. I have always been a person who analyzes advertisements to see what the advertising company is trying to do. I just never put it into words that end with os. It sometimes seems like advertisements assume the audience is stupid. An example is an advertisement for an SUV company and the whole commercial is focused on Tiger Woods and his golfing abilities. They are trying to convince consumers that if you want to golf like Tiger Woods, then you better buy this SUV. This would be a form of ethos along with logos. These types of advertisements must work or otherwise these companies wouldn't do it. I am pretty sure the concept of rhetoric will stick with me forever.

Questions for Guest Speaker and Media Kit Example Link Posted

What College did you attend?

What led you to work at Rejuvenations?

Do you have any advice about writing in the workplace?

Do you have any pet peeves about other people's writing?






http://www.condenastmediakit.com/gla/

Review on Revision

I reviewed Michelle Hensler's blog post on the classroom assignment revision. I think she has done a really good job. She has taken a mess and cleaned it up. Originally, the instructions to create a shared drive were very confusing. It was hard for me to revise especially since I don't know very much about computers. Michelle has taken the disorganized and sloppy instructions and used less words and better organization. If I needed to create a shared drive on Windows 95, I would just need to read Michelle's instructions and I will be able to do it.




http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYhrFeGQMyqtZGNwa2QzbnRfMmhiNzJrczYz&hl=en

Logos in Geicos

There is a Geico commercial I seen recently which uses logos to advertise their insurance. This commercial is the funniest Geico commercial I have ever seen. It is a man dressed in a suit talking to the camera asking if switching to Geico will save you 15% or more on car insurance. He then says,"does a 10 pound bag of flour make a really big biscuit?" Then the commercial shows a boy buttering a really big biscuit on a kitchen table. Geico wants the audience to believe that switching to Geico makes logical sense. It is obvious that a ten pound bag of flour would make a really big biscuit, so it would be obvious that switching over to Geico would save you 15% or more on car insurance.
All Geico commercials use logos. The company first used the gecko to advertise. All the gecko commercials had a gecko talk to the camera about how switching to Geico will save 15% or more on car insurance. The company also had an advertising scheme which used cavemen. The slogan, so easy a caveman go do it, is another example of logos. These commercials are very clever and it will be interesting to see what is next. As a little side note, I eventually switched to Geico and it saved me more than 15% on car insurance.