Stay Sweet As You Are analysis

The essay has a very clear message, that adverts in the past were targeted towards women, and further making them an object of men's desires. The audience can be a wide variety of people, either women who are learning about the past misogyny of American advertisement, or men who are being educated on the structural male dominance in this country. It is a powerful piece for either group to read up on. I believe the purpose is to show how women are objectified, and that their only goal in life should be to get married, or be in many romantic relationships. The authors stance is clear, that this type of advertising is wrong, and a gross reflection of the advertisement industry. I only wish she had tackled some of the ads today, that really aren't much better. The larger context is the structural male dominance in this country, and she is contributing to the bigger picture by showing more detailed analysis examples of these ads. The media she used to get the message across is mostly written, but I think the images of the ads were important in backing up her statements. She appeals to the readers emotions by stating the sad truth that advertisements like these are a debilitating factor in women's struggle for equality with men. As well as that "pleasing men is the prerequisite to happiness." I think she does very well in proving her point, and using the analysis of the ads to her advantage.

Analyzing our homework

Analytical Papers:

Analytical papers analyze a subject. You come up with a thesis based on a subject, and you are trying to give evidence and reasons to back up the thesis to the subject. You have to consider you rhetorical situation, and appeal to the audience and identify your purpose. We identified the main insight about mad men being the underlying theme within the show, that the american dream is becoming less and less achievable. Each character struggles with finding true happiness, and it often ends in their demise…… DUH DUH DUH Duh DUh Duh. She establishes her authority by stating in the footnotes that she is an experienced TV critic. She also establishes it by showing how much she knows and understand about the show. She is able to thoroughly explain the plot of the show, as well as analyzing the relationships between characters, and their motives. She appeals to our emotions by using a very descriptive vocabulary, and in the first few paragraphs she talks about things that we can all connect with. Before reading this essay, we were semi familiar with Mad Men, and her plot description helped us to understand the premise at a deep level.

Questions Page 175

1. Her main insight about mad men is that through the characters, it reflects the diminishing capability of reaching the American Dream. She reveals that through the change in the advertisement industry, the way people viewed consumption, and products changed. We continued to constantly want more and more, and with TV, they were able to make everything even more appealing, and something you MUST have. She revealed this by breaking down the individual characters needs and desires. Through that, she showed that our ideals were changing, and that each character was discovering that they are growing to feel unfulfilled more and more. For example, when she describes that Roger and Don are "on top of the world" and their loathing for having relationships with more women showed how they were never content with what they had.
2. She establishes her authority about the show by immediately revealing how much she knows about it. Not only did she watch every episode necessary to create this analysis, but she was able to really watch each characters actions, and break down what they were doing, and find their motives. Her knowledge of character names, and the names of the actors playing them was impressive, and worthy of acknowledgement.
3. She appeals to our emotions right away in my opinion. Her first sentence is immediately understandable, and I felt I could connect with it. She shows how sad it is that the american dream is becoming more of a myth than anything else. How we used to be happy and content with a roof over our heads, and a comfortable wage. Now, it feels like we are constantly needing more. Also, the many changes in relationships and interactions in Mad Men brings about a lot of drama and emotions. She describes some of these, and shows how people's constant drive for more ends up hurting others. I think to some extent, we can all connect to that. We have all seen it, either in real life, or on TV. It seems most shows now are based on people pursuing extreme wealth, or people who are already rich struggling to find themselves.
4. I wasn't very familiar with Mad Men before reading this essay. I had seen several episodes, but could not get hooked on it. I do now understand the basic premise, and how all the characters are driven; however, I don't feel more determined to watch it, because the plot isn't exactly something that I think I would enjoy continuing to watch, and I did not enjoy the misogyny and racism that seemed to be deeply ingrained in that time period. It isn't a feel-good show.

My own use of analysis

Decision	Level	Area of My Life	Information I Gathered
What to have for breakfast	small	daily life, how I feel the rest of the day, and what sounds good to eat	I gathered right when I came downstairs that there was already a pan for eggs on the stove. However, I also realized that I was quite tired this morning, and did not particularly feel like making eggs. Additionally, I had recently bought a bunch of yogurt, in 3 different flavors, that sounded more appetizing. So I settled on yogurt.
What to wear today	Medium (to me)	Confidence	Every morning I take a little while to decide what to wear. I have a large selection of clothes, and I also like to wear a different outfit every day. I have to choose the color/style pants to wear, the shirt (vneck, henley or button-up), the sweater (pullover or cardigan), and finally the outerwear (blazer, peacoat, coat etc.) I also take the weather into account, to decide the thickness of my layering.
Buying drums and cymbals	large	entertainment and hobbies/passions	I always do a lot of analysis when deciding on new purchases for my drum set: what do I need, what do I want, what is the cheapest, what sounds the best, what style do I want, where would I put it, what would I need to purchase in addition to be able to mount the new piece… I look at customer reviews, sound testing videos, construction, and company reputation.
Deciding on OC	large	social life, school	The decision to do running start was a big one: I had to consider my health, the social aspects (how it is different from the high school), the amount of daily homework, the class times, the commute, the classes to take…. I had help in this from my counselor and parents.
Deciding on a car to buy	huge	school, family, expenses	We are in the process of possibly purchasing a new car for when I get my license. My parents have done research on the best and safest cars for teenagers, as well as other specs like gas milage, size, cost and more. I don’t want to put in too much into this, because I feel bad about the impending costs that will have to be payed. I don’t like to put this pressure on my parents.

Decision making is something that is hard for me, because I take so many things into account. I don’t like being a burden on my parents, and I like to work to earn things. That being said, I am a conscientious buyer, I like to shop at goodwill for clothes, and I buy used equipment for my drum set.

Analysis in Everyday Use

Consumerreports.org:   This website offers a wealth of information on many different technologies like cars, phones, tablets, cameras and TVs. I find this website especially helpful, because it has nine total categories on how they grade each device, in this case, cameras: they grade them overall, megapixels, weight, image quality, flash photo quality, video quality, ease of use, LCD quality, widest angle, and battery life. If I were looking into buying a camera, this would be incredibly helpful. All of this information needs to be taken into account to cater to your specific needs, and style of photography. You don’t want a heavy, clunky camera if you’re taking it out for a long time, on hikes and climbs. If you are more interested in using it for video, you should get a camera that has high video quality ratings. The site also offers a Price and Shop option, which allows you to shop by price, while it still gives you all the normal helpful ratings. Additionally, the website offers a professionally made video that guides you through the process of buying a new camera.

pcmag.com:    This website is much less effective to me than the other. The layout is confusing and busy, there are way too many adds, and the level of ratings is much less detailed than consumerreports.org. One upside of this website is that it has a page that has side by side comparisons of 6 cameras. It includes a bunch of information like dimensions, weight, type, megapixels, sensor size and more. I could see this site being more helpful for people that need a camera that has extremely specific dimensions and quality. Below the graph, the site breaks down each camera individually, where it discusses prices compared to other similar models, and when this specific camera would be more useful than the others. Finally, another very helpful piece is that each camera has a pros and cons section. If you are looking into buying a new camera, you can refer to this, and find the camera that sounds most useful for your particular situation. Videos are also included with each camera to show a person using it, and they can show off the design of it in a more personal light.

In conclusion, although pcmag.com has a good amount of comparative information, I would still go with consumerreports.org. The design is more easy on the eyes, and I had no trouble navigating through it. I was able to search for the exact thing I was looking for, and get a detailed review on it. pcmag.com would have won for me, if not for the confusing layout of the site. There were flashing ads, and a nearly endless front page with hundreds of random articles and reviews.

Taking Stock of your writing

1. My main point was that you can use writing as a healing, or coping strategy for many issues in life. It has helped me through many years of struggle.

2. My audience was my peers, and my teacher. I wanted to incorporate as much vivid detail, and descriptive writing as I could to grasp their attention, and keep it. The internal dialogue I used, for example was tailored to get them to connect to it on some level. Everyone has that internal dialogue.

3. Feedback is always helpful to me. I like getting new perspectives, and when people point out things I could add, or things that I have missed. I always make use of the editing, because if they capture something I missed, then it can help to improve my grade.

4. I liked the idea of writing creatively. I haven't done it for school since before High School, and it felt good to spread my wings past analytical essays and research papers. I learned about myself as a writer more, and that once I get in the groove of things, I can create a pretty strong piece.

5. I would like to know what you think of the paper in terms of it's flow and descriptive parts. I liked experimenting with similes and metaphors, as well as using big words :). I'm unsure of the strength of my intro and conclusion, I feel like they were good at getting the point across, but maybe not detailed enough.

Rough Draft - revised

Freewrite:

Everyone has that moment in their life when they realize, and acknowledge that something has to change. You need a new perspective. A fresh start. A ridding of the demons that have been plaguing you. But how do you do this? Obviously you can’t just push the restart button; you can’t just drop everything. No. Even at the tender age of eleven, I still had responsibilities and obligations that could not be neglected. I had been at war with chronic pain, and anxiety since third grade, and every day was a gruelling, painful battle. As a result of this, attending school every day, and participating in soccer became very arduous. I needed a break. There was nothing I wanted more than to be given a new life; a life without the constant pain and worry. I didn't see any way to cope with my trouble, until one rainy fall evening.

I slammed my bedroom door shut with absolute malice; fully content with the idea of never opening it again. The rain was pounding heavily on the roof, like thousands of angry trolls charging out of their caves. My head was filled with angry thoughts. The bad kind of angry thoughts. The I HATE EVERYTHING kind. I hated myself. I hated my body for hurting, and I hated my mind for making more of the pain than necessary. The anger was controllable, but my malcontent with the situation was fiercely besieging my mind. I needed a distraction from all this… something to do. I trudged over to my bed, flumping heavily onto the soft sheets; however, the usual comfort and satisfaction that the sheets gave me was dampened by my anger and frustration. I sat up and peered thoughtfully around my room, hoping to pull some life changing inspiration from the knobbly white walls. Obviously, nothing came jumping out at me. No, unfortunately, even with a plethora of John Cena and AC/DC posters, I could not conjure up a beautiful plan on how to turn my life around. I felt the force of thousands of smiling faces staring at me from the collages that lined the wall along my bed. The gleeful expressions in the photos made me even more cross about my circumstance. I looked at each individual image, recounting the moments, and wondering when I’ll feel like that again. Can’t I just be happy by getting a new toy soldier, finding a cool rock at the beach, or getting to ride a fire truck? Why is everything so much more complicated now?

“Remember those good old days?” I thought to myself, “where have those gone? remember when you could drive hours to the beach or to the zoo without a hint of pain? Remember when you could go days, or weeks without feeling an ounce of stress?” Those truly were the best of days. I felt like part of my childhood had been stripped away from me. I thought stress was something that comes when you’re in high school, or when you have a job! I thought chronic pain, and diseases only happened to other people, why me?

Out the window, the rain poured harder than ever, I watched as the deck below my window was pummeled by a constant barrage of furious drops. The trees beyond were dancing in the wind, like concert goers, entranced by a sweet, flowing ballad. However, the cadence the rain formed was heavy-laden, and constant. It flooded my mind, causing static and disorder to my thoughts. I reached under my bed to fetch my laptop. It was a small, old clunky thing with a faded logo, and stickers that were threatening to fall off. I blew off the dust that had settled on it, and clicked it open. The loud hum of the computer fan offered another mind-numbing instrument to the collective of the trees and the rain. I opened up my itunes app, which took at least five minutes, and plugged in my big ol’ headphones. Even before the Dave Matthews Band number started to play, the headphones quieted the obnoxious band which had been playing outside.

Then the “bang!...bang!...bang!…bang!” of the snare drum began. It felt like a call to action, like something great was just over the horizon. I immediately opened up a web browser, and began searching: dealing with stress. My brow furrowed as I glared at the results:

“Take care of yourself, eat healthy, well-balanced meals” but bad food makes me HAPPY. Besides, that’s not instant enough…

“Talk to others, share your problems” I wouldn’t dare do that, nobody outside of my family knows about my problems and I’d like for it to stay that way…

“Avoid drugs and alcohol” Okay…. I am eleven, I don’t think that is my problem. Where’s the “skip school” advice, or the “take a magical pill” option?

Despite my best efforts at research, I couldn’t find any suggestion that grabbed my attention. Then I realized something; all of these articles were written by someone. They spent hours typing away at their computers, inserting their knowledge, research, and opinions into something they cared about. They were writing for others, but what if I wrote for myself? I had never written anything that wasn’t to be edited or graded by a teacher, so the idea, although familiar and regular for others was foreign and bizarre to me. What do people write about when they’re writing in diaries or journals? Do I write about my day, about what’s bothering me? Or do I write about happy things, rainbows and puppies? Completely unsure of what I was doing, I opened up a new Word document, and began typing.

At first, the words dragged along, sentences were erased, and I felt ashamed of the reaches of my vocabulary. Slowly, however, the words began to flow. My fingers moved quicker and more confidently. No thought entering my mind was a bad one, and every thought went onto the page. A very tiny ember of hope within me sparked on one page, then the next, and the next. I wrote poems, short fiction stories, diary entries, and memories until the ember had turned into a colossal bonfire. Sparks flew, and the smoke that rose from the fire smelled of hope and true enlightenment. Only a few hours later, I had written four pages of anything and everything. I finally sat back, and looked at the work I had done. I felt different. I felt good; like a giant cloud that had been raining on me had lifted. I looked out my window, and streaks of sunlight were peaking through the clouds, illuminating my deck and yard like a spotlight on center-stage. Not only was the room brighter, but there was an ease, and luminance in my mind. I was no longer angry at the world. I was no longer angry at myself. The collages of faces by my side had been given a new appearance. The smiles looked familiar. They looked achievable again. The rain had seized, just a slight misting was gracing my window, leaving tiny little droplets, that looked like windows into another world. A happier world; but I knew that the drops were showing the very same world as my own. It was my happy world.

The reality is, there is no quick fix to being stressed or depressed. However, there are treatments that can ease your mind, and give you peace, if only for a little while. I was very fortunate to discover that that treatment for me was writing. It gave me a glimpse into another world, while helping me figure out mine. Often times, writing out your problems and studying them can be the key to coping or solving the issue. You can’t complete a puzzle by tackling one piece at a time, you need to lay them all out on the table, then you can see the full picture. Since that rainy fall day, I have never looked at writing the same. To me it is no longer a constraint created by teachers, it is a release created by me. Although I still suffer from chronic pain, and anxiety, writing has opened countless doors to great relief and many solved puzzles.

1. Visual Description: “Entering the large VWF hall, we were struck by the chemical odor of a cleaning solution so strong that it seemed toxic. The hall had no windows, only fluorescent lighting illuminated the large space… The cackle of a television set was the only sound. There were several rows of cots and mattresses with a few people lying on them.” (p. 128, paragraph 2)
2. Dialog: “When she opened the front door, the whole street looked like a river, and water poured in. She described it as ‘rushing like the Colorado River.’” (129, paragraph 3)
3. Sensory: “Her tongue became dry and her lips were cracked, but she only was aware of being terrified of the water.” (130, Paragraph 3)
4. Writing Ideas: Barry lessons at Odyssey, learning and writing about my great-grandfather in 8th grade, my first time writing for me. (poetry), first time finishing a big book (Ender’s Game)
5. I want to share the story of me writing for fun for the first time, because I still remember the enlightening feeling that I got from it. It was a mental cleansing of sorts. I want to share a memory, and hopefully inspire others to write for themselves too.
6. I feel like anyone who enjoys English will know the feeling that I got from this. Many people write in journals or diaries to put their thoughts on paper, work out problems, or express themselves privately.
7. I want my readers to see me as someone who was developing as a person, and finding himself. I want the piece to feel soft and comfortable, while also showing how I conquered some inner demons through poetry.
8. I believe the best design for this piece to get my message across is a written narrative. I still remember the moment I decided to try writing. I was in my room on a rainy fall evening, surfing youtube on my small, noisy laptop. I had a lot on my mind, and I was able to let it out through my writing. This imagery and setting would be hard to show in a different media type.
9. The white, postered walls of my room (soccer posters, video game posters, Legolas, John Cena), the window by my side shows my dark yard, and rain dripping from the roof past my window. I see the black metal bed frame at my feet, and the brown sheet with colorful fish on it. I am on my small black laptop.
10. I hear the rain falling onto the deck (pit pat pit pat lol), the soft hum of my laptop, and the occasional bark of my dogs downstairs. The wind is also blowing the chimes on our deck, creating a beautiful cadence
11. I smell the fresh rain, and the special party mix my mom is baking downstairs
12. I feel bored, conflicted, and frustrated with my situation. I am comfortable in my sweatpants and sweater, and the soft memory foam bed.
13. I taste NOTHING
14. Characters: me, myself → Me: I am a tall, skinny boy. On this cold weekend day, I am wearing black soccer pants, and a loose fitting sweater. I am outwardly comical and talkative when around others, but when alone I often get antsy, nervous, and a little sad. I’m not so sure how to cope with some things going on in my life, and being alone with my thoughts gives me time to reflect. Myself: I am the solution searching side of myself. I am constantly trying to think of different activities and things to distract, or help myself. I think of possibly writing some poems to ease my mind, and give my thoughts some rhythm.
15. I recall having an internal conversation with myself. Asking what I should do with myself. It’s the weekend, I’m bored, no friends are coming over, I can’t play outside, and I don’t feel like talking with my mom downstairs. What do I do? Watch some cat videos? Nah, not feeling it. Play that sushi game on miniclip? Nah, too much brain power used. Draw something? Nope, I’m too frustrated and too much of a perfectionist to enjoy it. Play xbox? Nah, my mom will get angry. WRITE A POEM? Hmm….. but about what? You know, life stuff… dogs, sunshine, leaves or something… but make sure it rhymes. Bento doesn’t like a rhymeless poem.
16. The action of my narrative is struggling with my internal demons, then defeating them through poetry. I remember pacing around my room thinking of what to do, then I settle on trying to write. The rhythm is soothing to me, like music, and thinking about topics with deeper meanings help shed some light on my issues. Writing about my issues helped me to unravel it, and start piecing the puzzle together.
17. This moment was meaningful to me, because it helped me understand myself better, and it gave me a sense of calm and purpose. I haven’t done this for a while, but I learned how to think about my situation differently through poetry. Poetry has a way of revealing hidden truths, and resolving things in strange ways. This also connected me to my music more, which I still use as a coping mechanism today. I feel like I could still be lost in my thoughts without that day happening.