"The Southland"

The Southland was written to inform people about vast domain, and all it has to present. It targets a large audience of people of all ages, male or female. The author wants to let the audience know everything about the south and how deeply he feels. He uses ethos to appeal to his audience by explaining in detail exactly what he had seen. His knowledge and background of the topic has had an impression of sincere interest, and professional grasp on the subject. He also uses logos by stating the name and location of each specific place. He first talks about the battle between the North and the South using imagery to explain. He uses imagery such as “The south is crumbling under the heel of the conqueror.” This is only one example of the many he has created. This imagery to me creates a sense of emotion; pathos. He uses sensory description and ideas of the Southland enabling my mind to wander and mentally picture the vast land. He uses words in place of pictures to create images for people to relate to. The purpose is to emotionally attach people to this vast land by saying there is no longer an old south. But the author gives the audience hope: the start of a new south has begun, although the memories and pictures in his mind will remain forever. I consider his thoughts to be such a manner because towards the end of the writing he uses Buddha as a symbol. Buddha represents hope, desire, courage, and belief. This is what I perceived the author realized upon seeing Buddha. But who am I to state the author’s thoughts? This is just an example of the way I interpreted and analyzed his writing.

Help Darfur Now!

While looking at websites I made sure to analyze the different aspects they had to offer. Each website is unique in how the author sets it up. Colors, pictures and bold headlines drew me into the website I finally chose. I truly believe these are important aspects that have a lot to offer to the audience.
The author is a member or president of a nonprofit organization. It’s obvious to me that this website is created through a nonprofit organization because Darfur’s sole purpose is to raise capital for those who were affected by the genocide of Darfur. This is clear through the pictures and various captions. The captions that caught my eye leading me to believe it was an organization were such words as “help,” “endorsements,” and the most obvious of the three: “donations.” The tone of this website is elaborate explaining the details of the organization, and objective in showing their goal and how significant it is.
The audience is targeted to people who are willing to donate capital in order to help the organization. This may consist of males or females at a variety of ages. Many of those who are enthusiastic to help this foundation will base their decision off the effect they receive from viewing the website. This is important for the author to keep in mind.
The purpose is to inform people about the genocide of Darfur and the affects it has had on the community. Not only does it inform but it also persuades people to get involved and help. The various pictures portray emotion and reach farther than just that. It catches people’s attention and draws them into their organization.
The websites main appeal is pathos. The pictures of crying people and skeleton bodies depict a sad sensation. When I look at the pictures there is a feeling of helplessness. Although, I know there are people helping them. This leads to ethos showing how valuable and rewarding this organization is. The site contains pictures of all the citizens they have received endorsements from. They range from actors, to governors. The site has captured their audience and a professional manner. I am able to observe this through logos. The pictures of citizens who have donated capital are expert testimony. By seeing who had contributed, you know the site is real.
By taking critical approach on the websites I observed, it helped me to depict and understand what the site was about without even reading any of the captions. I noticed pictures, colors, and bold headlines drew me into the website I chose to observe. From now on, I will analyze websites with a deeper meaning and understanding!

Analysis of Scott's Blog

The blog I chose to analyze is titled shark cage. The title basically sums up the entire page. Out of all the blogs I analyzed, this one in particular caught my eye. The author is Scott. His bright blue and green colors and pictures of sharks made his blog unique. He did a great job in creating a theme that shows his audience he enjoys scuba diving. Even though he stated he likes to scuba dive, I think by the pictures and colors of his profile one would be able to figure it out on their own. I also think he is an outgoing and possibly an extreme person because of the lime green writing and pictures of sharks displayed on the side of his blog. I really enjoyed analyzing Scott’s blog and think he did a great job of incorporating his personality and hobbies into it!

Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue"

The author of Mother Tongue is Amy Tan. She is a first-generation Asian-American, and the author of multiple books. I have actually read The Joy Luck Club and really enjoyed it. Her passion for writing and incorporation of her background is unique and interesting. For example, her mother has extremely broken English and Amy was ashamed of this almost her entire childhood. Although, she always writes keeping her mother in mind. Amy's main audience is her mother. I believe the information about the author has helped me as a reader to relate to what she is writing about and the background she comes from. This sets the tone of the short story. Amy's purpose of the story was to portray her background and explain the difficulties she went through coming from a family of poor English. She talks about the struggles she has, and the ignorance of people who do not understand her life style. I find it interesing that people can understand and will listen to Amy but not her mother only because of her English. Who is the judge in deciding the treatment of a person based on their background?

Why We Blog, How We Blog

Prior to reading articles and watching videos on blogs I was unaware of the content and full purpose. Now, after reading the various articles and watching videos, I have an enhanced understanding of what a blog is. A blog to me is an extremely useful source that allows you to express your feelings, opinions and emotions. It is a way to share and communicate personally about your thoughts with others. A blog can be educational, an approach to extend your thoughts by comparing them with thoughts of others. Teemu Arina explained a blog as a reflection. He proposed a strong point that created ideas in my mind. It’s a way to communicate with others and view thoughts outside of your own. You are able to reflect and really think about your personal thoughts and learn from them based on others opinions. Blogs are beneficial because you are capable of discovering people with the same interests. Although they can also be unbeneficial. This seems to be a concern for people, and there has been an issue among hate groups. These groups use blogger websites to communicate about racism, gender, religion and more. I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I feel as if judgments regarding racism, gender, and religion should not be blogged on. It is insensitive and even though it’s a form of expression, I strongly feel such expressions should not be posted on anything that can be viewed by everyone. A blog should be inoffensive, a place where everyone is able to express themselves and feel comfortable.

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