Advertisements R Us Summary

In Advertisements R Us, Melissa Rubin reveals how advertisements made in the past can be used today to examine the values of that era. She shows how the Coca-Cola ad appeals to the largest audience in America, how it shows the importance of the military, how it presents the white and blue collar workers, and how people of color and women were viewed during that time. The ad was very much geared towards the white working males of America, the people most likely to buy their product. In the front of the ad stands military men from all of its branches. This shows the importance of our military in a time shortly after WWII. On either side of the military men are the white and blue collar workers. It shows how the civilian workers are important to American society, but not as much as the military men. Finally, the ad only shows a few women, dressed casually, and appearing only to be there for the men. This shows how women were viewed as unimportant in society. Additionally, there are no people of color shown in this ad. This implies the racism of the general public is still quite strong at that time. The author concludes that ads like that of Coca-Colas show the values of society during that time, and that Coca-Cola was a powerful company that helped to empower, and unite the workers of America.

Advertisements R Us Questions

1. The insight Melissa offers is that the Coca-Cola advertisements are almost like time capsules that capture the moods and social tendencies in society during that time. She breaks down every aspect of the image, by showing the white male dominant crowd, the bright, shinning factories, the many men in military garb (since this was after WWII), the blue collar workers, and the white collar. It implied that everyone was friends, boss and employee could share a coke together. The fact that the ad is drawn into a city shows the massive industrialization that was still taking place after the war. There are no signs of suburbia in this ad. She provides further evidence by applying facts to the images that were portrayed in that time. I accept her conclusion that the ads helped reflect the values of that time. It is obvious when you view the ad.
2. Her historical context is helpful in understanding some parts of the ads. She points out how every branch of the military is present (men in uniform), and how they are in the front of the image. This applies to how important the military was to us at that time after WWII. Another historical context is how the factories are not portrayed in a bad light. Today, factories are seen as environment-killers. But in the ad, they are just another part of the scene, and the American life at that time. Another historical context piece was the lack of colored people in the ad. It shows the structural racism that was much worse at that time. How "normal" people are seen as white. She explains how only black celebrities or athletes had been portrayed in any Coca-Cola ads.
3. Her answering the question of what the society was like back then is the biggest thing you can draw from these ads. You could also answer questions like how prices of products have changed, how their design has changed, or how ads as a whole have changed. Then, the most used type of ad was printed, but today it is on TV. You can use ads like these to create a timeline of this industry in the United States.
4. Many ads today can shows the general values or lack-there-of in today's society. For example, cologne or swimwear ads show the structural sexism that is ingrained in our society today. Companies use scantly dressed, or nude women to give their product attention. Today, the female body is exploited in so many ways. I think that these ads are a good example of where we are wrong today. They are not much different from the ads of the past, because they show what we as a society still have to work on. In the Coke ad, it was the racism, industrialization, and sexism. Today, sexism is still a massive issue.

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.