SWA5

Ad 1:

• This ad was in Amsterdam Worldwide.
• The typically topics covered have to do with business.
• The prospective audience is upper middle class people who are interested in the business world.
• A variety of other things are advertised here. Nothing inappropriate though. The ads are aimed for adults.
• The publisher assumes that the the audience has business oriented values and is mature.

Ad 2:

• This ad was in The Age Newspaper in Australia. 
• The topics of this newspaper vary. There are topics about business, news, the environment, entertainment, etc. 
• The prospective audience are Australian residents. Or the average citizen.
• This is a typical newspaper so the advertisements range from a variety of things. 
• The publisher assumes that the audience is interested in current events and keeping up with society.

SWA4

1. I am analyzing two car advertisements. The first ad is from tripwire magazine and the second is from an Australian magazine called the age.
2. The audience for the first ad are woman and young mothers. The audience for the second add are men. 
3. The first ad shows a silver car with its doors open. It is a small SUV. The car is on the side of some kind of cliff where we see a city in the background. Tall buildings surround the background as well as a bright blue sky. There is also a woman with red hair who is smiling in the ad. She is wearing a cream colored sundress with a brown belt. Her arms are open wide as if she is about to give someone a big hug. The ad is very bright. The second ad has a small blue SUV in it. An attractive woman with light brown hair is sitting on the hood of the car. She is wearing a tight purple dress with high heels. She has a seductive look on her face. 
4. I chose to analyze two cars ads aimed at males and females because I am interested in how advertisers capture the attention of each audience. Although both ads have a woman it it, it is very obviously the differences the two women have. In the first ad the woman is trying to get other women to be like her and in the second ad the women is trying to get a man's attention. The first ad is making women feel free and independent. The second ad is using a woman's sex drive and seduction to attract men. 

Link to first ad: http://cdn.tripwiremagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/opelmeriva.jpg

Link to second ad: http://www.theage.com.au/news/news/female-persuasion/2006/03/21/1142703402476.html?from=rss

SWA3

In Chapter One of Writing Arguments there is a photo, Figure 1.1, of a baby wearing a bib. The bib has the word “poison” written on it and the words on the photo say “Protect Our Kids, Stop Toxic Imports”.  The past couple of years the United States has had a fear about the safety of toys and baby products. The fact that it has been found that China uses lead paint on some toys and a discovery that a substance called phthalates, used to make plastic pliable, might be harmful leaves parents worried.  Phthalates can affect hormone production and potentially causes some types of cancers.  This photo makes the argument that some baby products are poisonous and the audience needs to take action against phthalates. This picture appeals to the audience’s pathos because it brings out emotions. The photo depicts an innocent little child who is being harmed unknowingly. When parents see this ad they personally, automatically think of their own children and wouldn’t want their own to be harmed in anyway. With this thought in their head it makes parents more likely to do something about this issue and take action. This is why the argument the picture is making is successful.

In Kwame Anthony Appiah’s article, What Will Future Generations Condemn Us For, he points out what our descents could potentially think we were horrible for doing today. He talks about our present industrial meat production, the institutionalized and isolated elderly, the environment, and our prison system.  The points he made about our current prison system struck me to be the most interesting.  I learned that 1% of adults in the United States are incarcerated but no other country has as large as a population in prison than we do.  In prison today, prisoners are not treated well. Many are sexually abused, raped, and some contract STDs. The government and prisoner officials know what goes on yet nothing has happened to help stop and prevent this. The argument the author is making is that in future generations, people are going to look back at the way we ran our prison system and think we are idiots for running the system like we do now. They will also think we are inconsiderate to the prisoners. Even though they broke the law, most are not violent acts, and they are still human beings. To them it will seem like common sense, but to us right now we can’t see that. The article makes the audience think that maybe in the future prisoners will not be tortured and raped. Appiah makes the audience think about what we are doing wrong, since most people try to ignore the things they hear about the prison system. The generations ahead of us may come up with a system to help prevent these awful acts from happening. The prison system will make prisoner safety and care a higher priority. 

Response to "Get Smarter"

The article by Jamais Cascio, "Get Smarter" is arguing that humans need to keep up with the technological advances of the world because they are going to happen whether we like it or not. I really found this piece quite interesting and it really made me think. This article has a very different viewpoint than "Is Google Making us Stupid". I like the argument Cascio is making much better. I agree with him that in order to keep up with society and prepare for the future, we as human beings must make ourselves smarter. If we understand all these systems and tools fully than they will benefit us much better. Nicholas Carr argues that all our advances with the internet and technology is making humankind lazy and affecting the way we think. He argues that since the internet makes all the information we could ever need  at our fingertips that we now expect convenience out of a lot of things in life. I do think Carr has a point but I also think he is looking at the situation from a pessimistic view. All the information and advances happening in the world are going to keep happening so if we do what Cascio says: make ourselves smarter, then we will fully understand how to deal with and make the best use out of technological advances.