Wednesday, January 30, 2008
On the other hand, I admire them for being so smart about what they do. There are some ads that I think are clever; like the mercedes bens ad. That add was cool! It makes me want to go and see what a mercedes benz looks like so I can associate the car with the ad.
What Z said in his movie was true, that the more you learn about something, the more critically you think about it (like design), which puts pressure on designers to do a good job. I took a design class last semester, in which we studied this in depth, and its so true that words and images together are so powerful! I was going to show an example of a commercial that i liked, and while searching I found so many awesome commercials!! Video's are scary powerful because they use written word, images, and sounds. I thought these ones were cool:
http://http://www.firebrand.com/watch/EBAY-TOYBOAT-30/73
http://BATTLEFIELD-69/194
Pride
I must shamefully admit that it did sound like a foolish way of speaking; I has a dream. But the whole thing was skillfully rendered to shame Ebonics, even to the point where I wanted to instinctively look around and see if anybody was emotionally hurt (even though there was no one there). I thought that most Blacks took pride in Ebonics, but with all these readings I suppose I should know better now that many don't. The style of the ad successfully invoked shame and hurt; even to me who has no relation to its topic.
I was also greatly confused by the car ads. I couldn't decide their motive either way. They seem honest in their efforts, but what makes me suspicous, is what would motivate them to be so? They are very honest and friendly and open, sponsering all of these events and giving all of these benifits-- but why would they do this so suddenly? Perhaps the social benefit. They would be Heros; wise ahead of their times, it would seem. People aren't afraid to buy from heros, and I imagine they would do so liberally simply to support the cause. Clever the ads, though... they look just like any other, just with some subtle word play... except for the Volvo ad-- that certainly was not very subtle. That one was kind of... scary. I'm almost glad I didn't have to see it.
Though I could hardly understand a word he was saying (as he spoke so quickly and further numbed my senses with every curse) I understood the message about the ugly myspace pages. This idea has been introduced to me in my previous English class and also by my Dad in his web-page experimentation. He actually has a great book that shows you how to make a good web-page by showing you examples of absolutely horrible ones. I'll have to find the title and post it later-- it's a really good book. I would not give the 3rd-degree to those who design their pages poorly, but it's practicality is not justified in any way. To many flashy graphics, jumbled pictures, bright and complex backgrounds, and flashy text tend to distract and make the page hard to read and to navigate. I would not say they are ugly... but they do cause a good deal of pain at times. Such pages do not seem worth the effort to read them, even if they really are. However much you would like to express your personality in your page-- too much creative liberty and too little thought and planning can scare people away. One can express themselves just as well in simple, easy to follow formats. It's only natural to be afraid and recoil when a lot of loud and flashy images jump out at you without warning.
Money hungary
Secondly, the statement that the car guy makes about not just wanting peoples money. I definitely think that the goal of all car manufacturers is to get us to spend a lot of our money on their product.
Bacardi & Company uses image of attractive woman who is more heavily emphasized than any other element in the picture. Showing the sex appeal persuades people, who are walking by this billboard, stop and start staring at it. In addition, wordings that say LIBRARIAN BY DAY. BACARDI BY NIGHT. I think evoke in people a human nature. The imagination of sexy librarian in a bar persuades you to go to the bar and actually drink some Bacardi while waiting for the beautiful woman.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Regards to the smoking ad
I think that how words are used, decorated on paper, and how visuals are used play a BIGrole in manipulating or persuading people to think or choose a certain way when it comes to advertising. I've really noticed this in food and beer ads and commercials. Those who designed the ads use beautiful women or men to sell their product. As if those who purchase it will be great looking and have gorgeous sexy friends. Not only are they selling alcohol and food but sex as well. Even though food and sex may not relate, those who have viewed such ads will always have that vision with them and remember the product that was advertised. That's what the producers of the product want.
Blog 4
visual rhetoric/ integrating words and images
Buy it
Visual rhetoric
I am having a hard time with posting
I am having a hard time with posting pictures
-Thanks
Advertising
Blog #4
Beautifully Ugly
As for the other articles, my eyes were most definitely opened. I would have read that Subaru ad "Get out and stay out" and it wouldn't have crossed my mind for a second that it was geared at the gay/lesbian community. I think of Subaru as a an all-terrain, all-wheel drive vehicle that the outdoorsy type would be attracted to. However, if this ad were in a gay/lesbian magazine or newspaper, then that quote would certainly make sense in that it's geared towards gays/lesbians. The Mercedes-Benz article was very captivating in that it was very simple and made me focus on the words that were conveying the fact that this car is one of performance, fun, and designed for safety. The visual rhetoric behind that advertisement is genius. As for the "I Has a Dream" ad, it is very deep and powerful in that it causes the reader to think. Lastly, the Ugly Myspace Designs video to me was educational for the most part. I appreciated what he said about how so many try so hard to make things ugly. It's true though. People expend time and talent into making something as ugly as possible. In my way of thinking, if the individual tries so hard to make something so hideously ugly, it will be beautiful. Beautifully ugly!
What catches your attention
Straight talk?
talk from
Coors
despite what a political candidate named Pete Coors had said about gay issues. I recognize that the advertiser is using a play on words that the gay community could identify with by using the word straight, but to follow that up with the use of the acronyms HRC, GLAAD, GPAC, and even GLBT I was left with the feeling that they were not necessarily trying to speak clearly or "straight".
It catches your eye
"change Your Job"
Visual Rhetoric
Visual Rhetoric
While searching for an interesting picture to post, I came across this image and it made me think. Thanks to the series of commercials with the Spanish speaking chihuahua , we all know how to say I want Taco Bell in Spanish. Just by a few advertisements like this one, it is now a common phrase.
I enjoyed looking at all the different examples in the text book. I thought the one about Subaru was interesting. I was not aware that Subaru often appeals to the gay community. That shows that everyone interprets advertisements differently because I could have just seen the statement "get out and stay out" as going on a trip. But now that they explained it, I can see how it can be seen as coming out of the closet.
I also liked the example in the book about the Mercedes-Benz. It felt like it forced you to imagine a Mercedes, whether you were interested in buying one or not. You saw the words safe and fun and it made you think what those words really meant, and if Mercedes was really that. Not just coming out and saying this car is so wonderful, safe and fun, it brought it to you in a different and fresh way.
Well, when you look at this advertisement for this kind of beer. It makes you laugh, and truly it is funny. But to some people, its not.
A weird thing it does, all at the same time. Is make you think how fat people can repulse you or someone else. The use of images combined w/ text & symbols is a very powerful thing in persuading someone.
This image is polarized. Funny or disgraceful to people. This image by itself can create bickering.
___________________________________
(Z-Frank video)
That was quite amusing, but to me it was not funny. He had some good points to that. It was more of a eye opener than funny. Still enjoyed it though.
____________________________________________________________________
blog 4 visual rhetoric and integrating words and pics.
Ze Frank show
“Ugly as a representation of massive learning and experimentation”
As years go by, people are learning how to use new high tech tools. No matter if people think it is “ugly” it is fun and we are using tools that we didn’t have before. We are entertaining ourselves by creating ideas and things we couldn’t awhile ago. We are learning the language of these tools. We are becoming more sophisticated when we learn this new language. We learn these languages because we have to in order to create exciting new ideas and also have a great time.
Visual rhetoric
Companies that use images to communicate messages that persuade us to buy their products are a powerful tool. If you go watch a movie or a TV shows, you are inundated with these nonverbal messages. These pictures change the ways we think, and it also makes a big difference if the words and pictures come together.
Ads are directed at me?
This particular ad caught my attention, other that the bit at he bottom how would you know what its advertising? Who is the target?
Are my thoughts mine, or are they their's?
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Switchin it up
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Switch the code..switch..switch.. the code!
Tengo Frio by Ely Guerra
Es que da miedo, es que lastima
Si tengo miedo y si llevo alguna herida
La misma que me lleva a ti.
Y tomo cuenta de los dias
Nadie... nadie puede ver
Si tengo miedo, si llevo alguna herida
La idea es que vengas a mi.
Y es que tengo frio a medio dia
Es que da miedo, es que lastima
Si tengo miedo y si llevo alguna herida
La misma que me lleva a ti.
Y tomo cuenta de los dias
Nadie... nadie puede ver
Si tengo miedo, si llevo alguna herida
La idea es que vengas a mi
La idea es que vengas a mi
La idea es que vengas a mi
Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights
It is what gives fear, it is what hurts
If I am scared and if I carry some injury
The same one that carries me to you.
And I take account of the days you gave,
Nobody... nobody can see
If I am scared, if I carry some injury
The idea is that you come to me.
And it is why I am cold at noon
It is what gives fear, it is what hurts
If I am scared and if I carry some injury
The same one that carries me to you.
And I take account of the days you gave,
Nobody... nobody can see
If I am scared, if I carry some injury
The idea is that you come to me
The idea is that you come to me
The idea is that you come to me.
Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights
[the translation is done by me although i don't speak Spanish. Maybe someone that does speak Spanish can correct my translation!]
Codeswitching
"I Have A Dream,"
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
CODESWITCH
codeswitching
I do codeswitch with my bad Spanish, though. I will only talk in Spanish to my close friends or family who know Spanish, because I'm sure I would sound ridiculous to everyone else. Or when I'm by myself, I'll try to think out loud in Spanish and try to form sentences, but I'll stop if someone comes by for fear of seeming crazy.
Codeswitching
Cambiar entre codigos
Codeswitching
"Problem" of codeswitching is part of my current life. I speak 2 totally different languages. English means for me a lazy, colorful, funny language that sounds to me almost like someone is singing, and then Czech that is a hard, strong language but just because it is my mother language it contains lots of emotions. In connection with article from Zentella, I like when she talks about choices of two languages. We have a choice in different situation, in who we spoke what to whom, and when to change language. That's what I experience almost every day. I have to switch the language I speak depending on situation I am in showing respect, expressing feelings etc.
There are also times when I want to express something that is really emotional therefore I would love to speak Czech but I cannot because people would not understand me. In the opposite way, sometimes I feel like speaking English back home but I can't because people who do not speak English would take it disrespectfully.
As Zentella mentioned, sometimes I speak "out of the mouth" and I mix both languages, making up new words of "Czechlish."
Speaking two different languages is advantageous, and because of codeswitching in the appropriate way it is easier to achieve what we desire to express.
"From the Venezuelan heart to American hearths"
Later on in her piece, the author reflects on the power of English “on international, national, and local levels” and how it is the language of independence, wealth and technological superiority. I wonder how much longer that will hold true. The rising value of the Euro and the growth of large nations such as China and India will surely put that actuality to the test. She goes on to paint Spanish as the opposite, as a language of dependence and poverty. The contrast and my musings on the changing landscape of our global civilization seem are even more fascinatingly germane when set a long side a news story I read the other day. From 2005 on, Venezuela's controversial president Hugo Chavez has actually been offering needy families in the US free heating oil. (Here is the article itself, from the China Post) The program is in full effect again this year as well. Of course, Chavez most certainly has less than altruistic motives in providing aid to a country he vilifies and condemns loudly and often, but the role reversal and its potential significance is just too heady and implausible to pass by: The poor, Spanish speaking nation offering aid to the wealthy, English speaking one.
Blog #3 Codeswitching
I can only speak English fluently so I am not familiar with being able to codeswitch with other languages but I think we all in a way do this if it is the tone of your voice or the words we are saying. Just because some of us can't switch between languages does not mean we don't codeswitch. I frequently am codeswitching at work because the words I use to communicate with my co-workers might not make sense to the customers so I have to almost translate so they can understand. For example, I will say go to the "cash wrap" when everyone else knows it as the checkout counter. I think this is a good example of codeswitching that occurs not necessarily having to do with two languages, but the words we use around certain people.
Switching a bit revised
I think that after class today i understand a little bit better about what code switching really is. i thought i understood yesterday after reading the the passage in the book but I guess i still had much to learn on the subject. I did understand that it had meaning behind it, and that we would code switch for certain effect but i guess i didn't quite grasp the idea that it was just a few words or phrases in one language or dialect and then switching back. It kind of makes me think that in situations where you speak only one language the slang that we use could be considered code switching. For example, when i worked in wilderness therapy, if a student showed signs that they would hurt themselves or some one else they would be put on suicide watch. This wasn't to say that we thought they were suicidal necessarily but just needed to be closely supervised and watched. When we would talk to their parents we would tell them that their child had been put on "suie" watch. It gave them the same information but in a less severe way.
Codeswitching
codeswitching
Codeswitching response
In a conversation with a family member I might be saying something in English but then switch over to German, it could also be the other way around, I might be saying something in German and then switch over to English, or even commit the abominable, amalgate both languages.
The reasons I do it is as mentioned by Zentella's article is group identity, and the other reason is that I might be short on vocabulary. But not only in conversation, I've even switched even on thoughts though, even though I speak English better because every now and then the German came easier.
When I first came to the States at a young age, I couldn't understand a word of English and I remember sitting in school class not knowing what the teachers were saying. Learning English was a challenging task, but that suceeded through Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. Cartoons were a great source for learning English.
Code Switching
code switching
code-switching ....
On Zantella reading I agree that the children acquire two grammars. But I believe that one grammar is use more than the other, if we use the two grammars together it would sound a little messy. We hear these words and our minds adapt to them, if both languages are know there shouldn’t be any problem understanding. Sometime we use for our benefits like if we are going to say something about somebody else present that we don’t want them to know about, but a lot of people get offended. Also if you are going quote somebody it’s good to use the language that they said it in, because most of the time translation doesn’t work. Many people also use code switching because they don’t know the words.
Codeswitching
Codeswitching
Codeswitching
Code Switching
Monday, January 21, 2008
Codeswitching
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codeswitching
"Spanglish" Codeswitching
Code-switching at home, on Seinfeld, and in our sleep?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/bryantpark/2007/11/white_kid_black_family_transra.html
The author writes about how the family had to learn to code-switch:
For example, I hadn't considered how often we talked about white people at home. I hadn't realized that dinnertime stories were rarely told without referencing the race of the players. I was also oblivious how frequently I used racial stereotypes. We began diligently censoring ourselves. Of course we've routinely adjusted our language and behavior for the sake of our white peers, neighbors, bosses and friends, but this little girl lives with us, which requires code switching and code creating at home.
Also, an episode of Seinfeld came to mind, 'The Understudy':
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/the-understudy/2192825172
Elaine has been getting her nails done at a Korean salon. She begins to suspect the women are speaking about her in Korean, so she invites George's dad, who speaks the language, to go with her and translate. Her suspicions are confirmed and she also discovers one of Mr. Costanza's deep dark secrets.
Hasn't something like this happened to all of us at one time or another?
Blog #3 Codeswitching
It seems as if codeswitching is a very important part to people who are mulitlangual and can switch between the two. I would do it if I could. I think it's really funny how people will speak certain words in English or certain words in the other language. I'd like to know why they switch between the two. The reading kind of brushed on it being based upon the person that they're addressing or someone that they want to know what they are talking about such as parents who only speak a certain language. Maybe they could do that when talking to someone that understands the other language better. Such as you're talking with your friend that is bilangual he's speaking to you in English and he gets a phone call and starts speaking Spanish, it could be that he is talking that way because the other person understands that better.
Blog #2
Codeswitching
slang response
I Have a Dream!
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
I love the descriptive language that he uses in his speech, it is as if you can feel the pains and injustices of every person he speaks of. Some examples of the portraits he paints are "the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity" "But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice." "who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice"
He is so descriptive it almost reminds me of reading Tolkien again. I also love his mix of religion and patriotism shown by his quoting of the bible as well as from my country tis of thee. I hope you will take a moment to remember the reason this holiday was established.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
The On-Line Slang Dictionary
Friday, January 18, 2008
LP's
Witty and clever
Slang use in my family is very volatile, changing often. We may adopt a slang word from a particularly amusing line from the Simpsons, or from a hilarious mispronunciation by one of the children, but it lasts for a few months at the most, then fades into obscurity before becoming overused and trite. My brother and I once came up with a slang word from a misspelling in a text message, but it didn't even last more than two days! I don't think this comes from any training on our parent's part, since they aren't strict advocates of standard English to begin with. I believe that the members of my family have a fierce desire to evade definition and express our uniqueness. We hate to think of ourselves as speaking like these people or those people. I'm not saying slang's useless or bad. It can be fun and humorous, but my point is that people who repeat popular slang in an effort to be witty and clever are fooling themselves and identifying themselves with a crowd that they may not even want to belong to.
And I was going to post a humorous picture or comic to go along with my post, but it seems my ideas have already been taken. Thanks a lot, guys.
w00t!
I was just browsing our ever burgeoning blog for posts of interest and saw one by Alyssa Anderson which caught my eye. (You can read it here by the way) She wrote about the term "PWNED" and how gaming has influenced slang. I thought it a significant point to have made. It reminded me that Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year in 2007 was “w00t”, which was certainly a surprise to many, and no small controversy at the time. “w00t” –which is spelled with two zero’s—is defined by Webster as "expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word yay"
The term is part of a type of slang called “l33t speak” (elite speak) an “esoteric computer hacker language in which numbers and symbols are put together to look like letters” popularized by gamers and tech savvy teens in recent years. I have included a "lol cat" image to the right that used a few other l33t speak terms to further illustrate the topic, and also because any time you can work a lol cat into conversation is the right time. If you aren't familar with lol cats, it was a sort of internet meme that spread like wildfire a few years back on 4chan.
In a class focused on language and society, with special consideration given to how technology has and will continue to impact linguistic evolution, l33t speak is certainly something of particular note. For more information, start here.
"Of all the vernacular, slang is the most spectacular"
I loved Tom Dalzell's article, and it reaffirmed my love of slang itself, both as I find it “in the wild” and how it can be used purposefully. I find myself almost unconsciously utilizing different slang during my interactions with certain business clients of mine, or customers. It can bond and unite complete strangers together, merely because they "speak the same language." Such commonality is extremely beneficial to forging and maintaining good client relationships, and such traits obviously carry over to personal connections as well. Dalzell mentions the rush of journalists and politicians to co-opt it, and it is these connections they seek. I believe his use of the term “tribe” and what that underlies is particularly well suited to any discussion of what the use of slang can achieve, if employed properly. Of course I have spoken only about the intentional, purposeful use of slang as a means to an objective, when its origins and general implementation are far more natural and honest than all that. But it is this use of slang as a tool that most fascinates me, both personally and academically.
Slang
slang
Wuz Up Yo?
That's Ghetto!
Slang
Anyway, though, she doesn't really code-switch between different situations; these words are incorporated into her everyday vocabulary and she uses them with everyone everywhere.
Dalzell's article didn't impact me so much as changing my views, but merely getting myself thinking about what I have noticed in relation to what he's said. I also think that ideas of slang are true on both sides of the debate; it can be both helpful and hurtful.