Soft-N-Dry "Strong and Beautiful" Campaign

Is it clear which is strong and which is beautiful-the truck or the model?

The reading talks about the ad Soft-N-Dri “Strong and Beautiful” campaign. Instead of describing the ad to the reader, we are given questions to ponder about the ad given. The girl in the ad wears pink and seems to be very girly while standing in front of a semi-truck, appearing beautiful. The ad wants to address the point that the girl is beautiful and the truck is strong. But the ad also wants to identify the blonde white women as being strong. The whole idea of the ad is to advertise the “Strong and Beautiful” campaign, therefore, the women is strong and beautiful while the truck is just strong. The ad is for a deodorant company so they want women to feel strong and beautiful when they wear their product; this is where the truck (strong) and the attractive white women (beautiful) are apart of the ad. 

Thesis

After reading the chapter, I have learned many ways to better my writing skills.  The ideas that stood out to me the most are how the thesis statement should have something pushing against it while also making a point. I always thought a thesis was a main subject stating the argument. Also the analogy of a camera lens is a creative way to think of a thesis statement. The clear and fuzzy lens explains how a thesis statement should be written, with a direction to evidence and the analysis of the evidence. My last paper about “Chicken Fried” and the student draft are different because I repeat my ideas throughout the paper and feel as if my thesis is not strong enough. 

1983: Music Videos

I have heard Girls Just Want to Have Fun multiple times, but never thought of the song in this aspect. The lyrics, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” has always made me think of teenage girls having a good time with one another, not having this kind of behavior! I had never heard the song Love Is a Battlefield; let me tell you I am not a music person! When the main girl is fighting off the pimp with her dance moves I think is hilarious, how is dancing going to stop a man? After watching and reading about both songs, feminism is portrayed greatly. I believe Love Is a Battlefield had the strongest message, as the video showed the overall story. The girl leaves her home and parents and has nothing to turn to. She of course turns to prostitution in this time period and then helps fight of a pimp who is abusing her friend. In the end, the girl knows she had done wrong and realized it while “beating” the pimp. Also, the story is very clear and is easy for the audience to follow.

         The video I chose to write about is Chicken Fried, by Zac Brown Band. The two claims are Zac is a southern family man that loves his roots and Zac also does not care about the little things in life, he thinks they are pointless. After watching the two videos and reading the details about each, both helped me realized for my paper I am going to have to really look deeply into the video and lyrics not just the explicit ideas. 

TV VS. MTV

Before reading the article, I had never thought this much about watching television. Like the article said, I always watched the t.v. to relax and have a good time with family and friends. The most interesting fact in the article is how we “pay” for television with our time and attention. We watch the commercials that we are interested in and then we usually go and buy the product or look up the service being advertised. I never thought of the television to be so intricate.

The show I watch the most is “Modern Family,” that airs on ABC. The target market of “Modern Family” is for the middle class, teenagers, and families with older children. The commercials shown during the show are for other television shows on ABC for the same ages, and news commercials about what is taking place in our country. The show is based on comedy and wants the audience to share a fun and relaxing time with their families and realize their family isn’t all that complicated!

         When I am preparing and writing my paper about the music video I will notice much more after reading the article. Everything in the video will have a meaning and purpose for being there. Now I just have to find that purpose! 

BARBIE!

Barbie would definitely never get bored with a job or career, as she has had over 80 careers in her life! I never knew what a huge industry producing a plastic doll could become. Barbie was always the doll that little girls fantasized about becoming one day. I never was very interested in playing with Barbie's but I did love all the different outfits and accessories that you could collect. I can understand how someone would like to collect Barbie dolls because she is definitely a fashion minded girl!  After reading the essay, I did not realize how influential Barbie could be to some people’s lives. Any type of hobby, as shown in the essay can become a way to meet interesting people, relieve stress and loneliness. I was a little skeptical of the collectors in the essay but after reading the entire story, I am more understanding of how important collecting is to them not just as a hobby, but also an exciting and fascinating adventure.

As a writer, I will be more apt to write with description and details. I will also thing about the significance and the impact of the stories I tell in my writings. 

"The Last Stop"

As a first year student in college, no one is thinking about death. Also, not many people want to deal with death emotionally because they aren’t sure how to. Cable toured the Goodbody Mortuaries and explained how he viewed a not so happy place. Cable’s assumptions began with the outside of the building; it looked somewhat like a church with a clock outside. Why would a funeral home care about time? When he entered, he saw the funeral director and he describes him tall and thin, looking like death. The next thing Cable is surprised about is how there is nothing on Howard’s desk and the credit card sign above. Cable thought the home was going to be very dull and boring, he was right but in the end Howard is doing a great service to people that we do not appreciate as we live our everyday lives. As Howard said, “I do what I can for people and take satisfaction in enabling relatives to see their loved ones as they were in life.” In the end, Cable views a funeral home in a different way now due to his visit he experienced.

I also think of a funeral home as a gloomy, sad place. After reading the story, I realized how dying is a part of life and how someone has to do the job of a director. Howard is a special man as he said he likes to satisfy people. Cable successfully conveyed an impression of a funeral home, as he was descriptive and explained his visit. When I write my essay, I will now try my best to make it a story but also have many descriptive points.